Eclipse
by Captain Space
Summary: When you build your pride on your own strength, what happens when it isn't enough? Will you wallow in despair, or rise from the ashes of defeat? (Collaboration with FinalFlashX, Ultimate Black Ace and LucifVegeta.)
1. Chapter 1: Second to None

**Chapter 1: Second to None**

"Damnit, Ishida!" Ichigo bellowed as his Zanpakuto sliced through yet another Hollow. Dozens, if not hundreds, of the sinister creatures were overrunning Karakura Town thanks to the bait the asshole had released. All to hold some kind of sick competition to see who could kill the most Hollows. How many innocent people was that four-eyed bastard planning on putting in danger just so he could attempt to show up the Substitute Soul Reaper?! What a joke.

An ear-splitting screech alerted the orange-haired teen of yet another gang of Hollows tearing their way down the narrow street towards him. There were four of them this time, their rubbery skin all different shades of sickly purple and grey. Demonic red eyes burned with a mindless hunger from the bleached masks that covered their faces. As they inched forward, their jaws unhinged to reveal the bottomless pits aiming to devour the young Soul Reaper.

Scowling right back at his enemies, Ichigo charged the pack of fiends head on. The nearest Hollow, a snake-like being with only two fangs protruding from its mouth, swiped at the oncoming teen with a three-taloned claw.

"Too slow!" he said, easily countering the blow with a quick flick of his wrist that sent the lunging arm flying into the air. Black blood spewed from the Hollow's severed appendage as the creature fell back, howling in agony. Taking advantage of his opponent's opening, Ichigo quickly finished the wounded specter off by thrusting his gigantic katana into its mask, piercing through the bony armor effortlessly. Another guttural scream rang in his ears as the Hollow dissolved into nothing.

Taking notice of their fallen brethren's demise, the remaining Hollows all rushed Ichigo simultaneously. He was prepared for the monsters' assault, though, and quickly dispatched one with an overhead cut, decapitating the beast in a single blow. This caused the other two to hesitate, long enough for Ichigo to press the offensive. With a sharp jab, he buried the butt of his hilt into the mask of one of the demons and sent the monster flying into a nearby building.

The final Hollow roared in frustration as it clumsily lashed out at the black-clad swordsman. A brisk _tsk_ clicked from the tip of Ichigo's tongue as he effortlessly ducked underneath its flailing arm before delivering three lightning-quick slashes to the Hollow's head and torso. This one didn't even get a chance to utter a dying cry as it faded into nothing.

"Damn it, I need to find Ishida so I can put a stop to this." Ichigo walked over to the small pile of rubble the final Hollow was trapped under. The beast was still dazed from his earlier blow and he didn't plan on giving it a chance to recover, sheathing his sword into the crack in its mask. Lifting his head, Ichigo scanned the area for more enemies as the ethereal remains of his last opponent floated around him.

Catching a gleam of light out of the corner of his eye, Ichigo quickly pivoted to face the potential threat, tightening his grip on the massive sword he wielded. The edge of his blade dropped, though, as he realized that it was merely the light catching his own reflection in the broken glass of a window.

He paused for a second to examine himself in the shards, surprised by how calm he appeared. There was no sharpness of breath and he felt no fatigue, even after slaying countless Hollows. His hand was steady on the hilt of his blade and there appeared to be no wounds from his battles so far. Ichigo guessed battling evil spirits for the past few weeks was really whipped him into shape. A couple of weeks ago, he could barely manage to defeat a single Hollow. Now, he was taking out dozens of 'em without even breaking a sweat.

Ichigo's eyes drifted up his reflection, and what he saw stunned him. The scowl he had worn all day had transformed into...a smile?

He violently shook his head, the scowl returning. What the hell was he happy for? There were still tons of Hollows running around the city. He had to find Ishida so he could get him to reverse whatever was bringing them all here, and he had to do it quickly. What good was this contest anyways? Killing a couple of Hollows wouldn't prove who's stronger. The only thing that would really prove who's stronger would be the two of them facing off, one on one. When he was beating that four-eyed bastard's ass, that's when Ichigo would prove which of them was the strongest.

Turning his back on the broken window and renewing his search, Ichigo's thoughts immediately strayed to his sisters. He couldn't let anything happen to Yuzu or Karin. With all these Hollows running around, there was a good chance they'd be drawn to their unusual Spiritual Energy. Same went for the rest of his friends, who all were seeming to get into trouble ever since he had taken on this Soul Reaper gig. Ichigo thought the rest of his friends could probably handle themselves alright, though. As long as Orihime didn't do anything stupid like trying to fight a Hollow on her own...

…

Better hurry up and find Ishida.

* * *

Orihime gave a relieved sigh as the bisected Hollow began melting away into plumes of white smoke. She began taking shaky steps over to her prone friend. "I don't know what that thing was...or what I just did...but I did protect you, right, Tatsuki? I...said I would." She fell into a sitting position, breathing heavily—only for her breath to catch in her throat at a low hiss from behind.

She spun rapidly—two more of the creatures, each significantly larger than the first, crawled their way over the nearby rooftops. She felt the same pressure as before, the deadness in the air that seemed to have paralysed everyone but her. Gulping and fighting back her fear, she stood in front of Tatsuki, readying herself to fight again.

 _Just that one, and I think I'm at my limit...I...I'm not sure if I can do this…!_ She raised her hands, taking a deep breath and trying to keep both of the approaching beasts in her line of sight. _One more time…what was it again?_ She shook her head, feeling fatigue set in—somehow using this new power was extremely draining. _Focus!_ " _Tsubaki!_ " The tiny man materialised again, forming into a disc of golden energy between her hands. " _Koten Zanshun..._ I re—"

And there it was: The Hollow, inches from her, enormous reptilian mouth gaping wide open, six inches away if that. _Th-This one's...so fast…!_ Her eyes squeezed shut on instinct, preparing for pain or worse.

The vicious, serrated teeth didn't so much scrape her shoulder as brush it, so briefly were they in contact before they were jerked away, an explosive noise washing over her.

Orihime opened her eyes, seeing the creature still in motion away from her, leaving a trail of broken concrete as it skidded to the ground. Where its monstrous head had been, a human fist was now extended over her shoulder from behind—Tatsuki, apparently fully recovered, striding past her even as she turned to look.

The short, lean girl shot a quick grin her friend's way. " _I'll protect you?_ That's my line, right?" Some kind of electricity seemed to be running up and down her right arm, focused around her fist.

The cumulative shock and fatigue finally overcoming her, Orihime fell back against a nearby wall, panting, still looking her friend up and down. "T-Tatsuki, what's…?"

"I'm just as lost as you are, t'be honest…" Tatsuki replied, her breathing fully returning to normal, "but I can move again, and those things got a lot slower all of a sudden."

The Hollow roared, scrambling to its feet, rows of insectoid legs scrambling for purchase before launching itself at Tatsuki; it smashed into the ground where she'd been standing, seemingly crushing her beneath its bulk. Before Orihime could cry out, however, Tatsuki appeared standing atop its head, arms folded. "Or did I get faster? I can't really tell."

At this, the second Hollow, three-metre bat-wings unfolding from its back, threw itself off its perch and down at her, catching her off-guard and carrying her with its charge, burying her in the wall of a nearby building. It continued to shove forwards, claws flicking out with a wet sliding noise. After a moment, though, it began to move backwards-slowly, inch by inch, against its will. Tatsuki's hand was clamped around the horn protruding from its forehead, and was gradually shoving it back. When it was at arm's length, she gave a grunt, placed her other hand on its head and wrenched it sideways, snapping the horn off and tossing it away. It lurched up at her, and moving on instinct, she swung forwards, smashing her head down into its snout and sending it writhing to the ground.

As it screeched in pain and frustration, she drew her arm back, eyes narrowing as the electric aura appeared again, swirling and concentrating around her hand. Right as it was preparing to spring once more, she took a step forwards and swung, fist breaking right through its bony head and driving it into the ground, wailing.

 _One down._ She gave a contented sigh, hopping over the twitching body, heading for where the first Hollow she'd fought briefly was circling. She wiped some of the dirt from her face, giving Orihime a thumbs-up to indicate she was fine, before returning her attention to the now-charging monster. She jumped sideways just before it reached her, letting it thunder past her, grabbing its serpentine tail as it went and digging her heels into the ground.

It came to a flailing halt, screeching at ear-piercing volume. Gritting her teeth and straining with all her strength, she pulled back on the giant beast and hurled it overhead, sending it flying uncontrollably through the air.

She dashed off down the street, keeping pace with it on the ground; she had no real idea how her new abilities worked, but was starting to get the hang of summoning the aura around her right arm. At a guess, she gave the same mental command, altering the direction somewhat, and was rewarded with the same energy now surrounding her leg.

The Hollow was beginning to crest the arc of her throw-now would be the best time. _I'm crazy strong now, seems like, but I dunno if I can get that high...hell with it, let's find out._ Her knees bent for a brief moment before she leapt, the speed with which she gained height astonishing her. _It still hasn't recovered...never gonna get a better chance!_ She kept up her forward momentum, turning it into a full somersault as she extended the charged-up leg. Her power seemed to respond to her desire to finish the fight here, and the instant she made contact, all the built-up energy discharged directly into the Hollow's body, blasting a huge hole through it and catapulting it to the ground. Tatsuki hit the pavement shortly after, gasping at the impact. She had expected worse, though, surprising herself again with how quickly she was able to jump to her feet—covered in dust and dirt, but otherwise with only mild scrapes to show for the whole ordeal.

She strolled back over to Orihime, humming mindlessly, trying to process what had just gone on.

Orihime, for her part, still seemed somewhat shell-shocked. "I...I'm sorry! I couldn't...I was worried you might—" Mid-sentence, she gave a nigh-hysterical giggle and collapsed, tiredness overcoming her.

Tatsuki shook her head slowly. "You worry too much. But, y'know...I think you got the right idea." She felt her legs give way beneath her, and she hit the ground next to Orihime, eyes closing slowly. "Yeah...s'good plan," she mumbled, drifting off.

About thirty seconds later, there came a shuffling sound of wood on concrete. An unkempt man ambled down the road, hat obscuring his eyes, picking up the tune Tatsuki had been humming and whistling the rest.

"Oh dear, oh dear, this almost went very badly…" He stopped by the two unconscious figures. "I didn't think multiple Hollows of this level would come after this area...I was more counting on just the one being enough to awaken Miss Inoue's powers. I certainly didn't expect two, as it were, for the price of one…" He paused, eyes flicking left and right beneath his hat-brim. _Okay, that was terrible...good thing they weren't awake to hear it...anyway. Much work still to be done today...no rest for the wicked, I suppose._

* * *

Ichigo couldn't help but grin as he stared up at the gigantic face of the Menos Grande. What else could he do? This one was monstrous! Its body, a pillar of pure darkness, stood as tall as a skyscraper, and even its pointed nose was longer than his house. If it weren't about to destroy the city, Ichigo would have laughed at the absurdity of its size.

"We'll clean up here, Kurosaki," Mr. Hat-and-Clogs said, a small smirk plastered on his face. "You devote your talents to stopping _that_."

With a small nod of his head, Ichigo and his new ally, Ishida, both turned their heads back to the massive Hollow who was literally ripping through the sky. While a solemn, concerned look passed over the face of the last Quincy, Ichigo felt his smile widening even more.

"The size of that…" he heard Uryu saying next to him, trailing off. Ichigo didn't even bother to take his eyes off of their next opponent to respond. His grip simply tightened around his Zanpakuto's handle.

"No use tryin' to come up with a plan to stop that monster," he said. "If you do, you'll just think about all the ways you _can't_ beat it."

"What!?"

"When you're facing down hell itself, there's only one thing you can do...Attack!"

Bringing his sword to the ready position, Ichigo began to charge straight at the feet of the Menos Grande. As the adrenaline of battle once again began to course through his veins, the Substitute Soul Reaper found a soothing quiet had fallen all around him. No longer could he hear Ishida's cries for him to wait, or even Rukia's call for him to stop. No, all he could see was his enemy before him, and his blade.

Unleashing a mighty war-cry, Ichigo leapt into the air, allowing gravity to combine with his own slash for extra power. His blade harmlessly bounced off the Hollow's white foot, causing the hot-blooded youth to let out a yelp of surprise. With a twitch of its body, the Menos kicked the Soul Reaper away, sending him flying back to land next to Uryu.

A gasp of pain escaped from the orange-haired swordsman as he crashed into the ground. His Zanpakuto clanged onto the ground next to him as his grip slipped.

"Idiot! What are you thinking charging head-on like that?!"

"Shut up," Ichigo growled. "There's nothing else we can do!"

"That's not true!" Uryu said. "We could…"

The words died in the bespectacled teen's mouth as his hand brushed against the hilt of Ichigo's Zanpakuto. A sudden rush of pure Reiatsu overflowed into the Quincy's body and the bow of light he held instantaneously tripled in size.

"Wait, Ichigo!" Uryu did a double-take, inspecting the blade more closely. "Look...all this energy you're giving out, it's powering me up like nothing I've ever seen! You're like...like a faucet that's stuck on, pouring out massive amounts of Reiatsu every second. I can focus all that disparate power into a single point-rest your Zanpakuto on my shoulder, and I'll channel your energy into my next arrow! Hurry!"

Ichigo didn't hear a word Uryu said, though, as he lay on his back, staring into the blank mask of the Menos Grande. All he could think about was Karin and Yuzu. That...monster was going to obliterate them without a second thought. It would destroy everything. Everything he had ever cared about. Unless he stopped it.

"Screw that, Ishida!" he snapped. "We don't have time to do experiments. We have to stop this thing!"

Snatching his sword away from Uryu, Ichigo gathered what remained of his strength for one final charge. A snarl formed across his face as he raced across the grassy field. This would be it. He'd stop this damn thing or he'd die trying!

* * *

 _Idiot…!_ Uryu's face froze in shock as the novice Soul Reaper charged off ahead of him. _That thing's about to_ —

Right on cue, as this thought passed through his mind, the Menos Grande's mouth cracked open, its rictus grin parting and revealing a crackling pool of deep red light, which instantly burst forth, sweeping down towards Ichigo. Uryu winced, preparing for impact—but it never came.

 _What the…_ The Cero had stopped in place, its progress halted by Ichigo's sword, his other arm shoved against the back of the blade. Slowly he rose, forcing the blast back, defying all expectations. Uryu relaxed slightly. _It's incredible, but...Kurosaki…_

 _Is this how you fight?_

 _Those were some fine words earlier...working together...and I'm sure you meant it at the time, but...do you even remember that now? Are you thinking at all? I doubt it._ Indeed, Ichigo seemed quite caught up in the moment. _He looks...happy. And I suppose I should be happy too, but…_

 _I couldn't scratch this monster...and I can't hope to compete with this Reiatsu he's putting out. I'm sure I could absorb it and put it to good use, but you didn't give me the chance._

He sighed, recalling his bow and settling back to watch the struggle. From his estimation of their respective energy levels, it was no great surprise to him when Ichigo repelled the Cero completely, the shockwave from his slash driving a great wedge all the way up the Menos' enormous body and forcing it back.

 _So, we need to work as a team, then...right up until it's time for you to be the hero. I see._

* * *

"—and then there's Tsubaki, he's kinda rough but I think he's nice underneath, I dunno, I mean they're like created from me right? I don't think I'm 'rough' so there's gotta be some me-ness in him somewhere right? I mean—"

"Mm-hmm." Tatsuki patted Orihime's arm, tuning out her incessant ramblings. "Cool, cool. Hey, Chad."

"Hmm?" Chad glanced down at the girl he supposed was one of his new friends; Ichigo, it seemed, was rapidly becoming a package deal.

"Hear you had a pretty mean punch there with that Hollow." He shrugged, declining to reply, so she continued. "Ya think yours has anything on mine?"

"Uh…" He seemed about to say something, then stopped, appearing to find something on the other side of the street highly interesting all of a sudden.

She shook her head. "Be that way. Hey, Rukia!"

Rukia jumped a little at the sound of her name. Her eyebrows raised in surprise, she pointed one finger at her face and asked, "Me?"

Tatsuki blinked, before giving a half-smile. "No, the other Rukia."

"—and then the three of them together make, like, this triangle thing? And it's like a shield? I mean I know shields aren't supposed to be like triangles, well I mean they are but like...curved triangles? What are those called? Anyway, then there's this—"

"Uh, that's nice, Orihime. Really cool," Ichigo said, a little shell-shocked by the girl's constant barrage. He shot a pleading glance over to Rukia and mouthed 'save me' before they were both dragged back to their own conversations.

"Anyways," Tatsuki continued, leaning past Orihime in order to check that she still had Rukia's attention. "Chad's being...Chad...so, like...you do, y'know, magic things. Could you tell who was stronger back there, him or me?"

"Um...sorry, Tatsuki, but I don't really know," Rukia said with a polite smile. "With all the Hollows running around, and then that Menos Grande showing up, I couldn't really sense anyone's spiritual pressure besides Ichigo and Ishida's."

"Wait, hold on, what?!" Tatsuki protested. "They're _both_ stronger than me?"

"Well, to be fair," said Rukia, attempting to appease her friend. "They both have had their powers for far longer than you have. 'Rome wasn't built in a day' I hear is an expression in your world for this sort of situation."

"Can't be right," Tatsuki muttered, folding her arms. "I always beat Ichigo anytime we fight...and Ishida—there's nothing to him! He'd fall in half in a strong breeze!"

Rukia gave the martial artist another polite smile. "Sorry, Tatsuki. Though, I am interested in hearing about all these times you've beaten Ichigo. I only ever hear about his glorious victories from him...it's interesting that he can't even beat a human girl half his size in combat."

"Hey! Beating me when I was five doesn't count!" Ichigo cut in.

"I beat you just last week, you liar!" Tatsuki tapped her chin, feigning contemplation. "What was it you said? 'I'm gonna go all out this time'...?"

"W-Well, she's a monster, that one!" he stammered. "No way she counts as a normal girl..."

"What's that s'posed to mean?!" Tatsuki sprang at Ichigo, who retreated, laughing.

"—but then I was thinking, so, like, what if I come back _next_ week and they don't _stock_ the strawberry ice cream anymore? So I thought I should just get all of them, right? So I had this whooooole thing with every flavour, and I thought I'd just eat one but then I wondered if it'd get lonely in my stomach without its friends? So I just ended up—"

Rukia found herself chuckling as she watched her friends' antics. She could get used to this…

She stopped in her tracks as the thought hit her like a runaway freight train. As the others continued on down the road without her, a shadow cast itself over Rukia's solemn face. No, she couldn't think like that. These weren't the emotions of a Soul Reaper; these were human emotions, and no matter how much she wanted to, there was no way she could ever really be a part of their world. This was simply a mirage. A tempting dream she could never really grasp.

"What's wrong, Rukia? Why you just standing there?"

Looking up, the Shinigami saw that the group had all stopped and were standing there waiting for her. Glints of concern seemed to pass through the bright eyes of Orihime. Tatsuki was looking up from where she had Ichigo in a headlock, waving to her to come on. Chad stood still as a statue as always, but his head was facing her. Even Ichigo had stopped his taunting in order to give her a concerned look and ask his question.

Biting her lip, Rukia put on a smile before answering.

"Oh, sorry. I dropped something, but I've found it now. Sorry to hold you guys up over nothing."

A wave of assurance came from the group as she ran to join them again. Yet, the gnawing pain in the back of her mind never stopped as they continued home, bathed in the crimson light of the sunset.

* * *

Uryu observed all this from atop a nearby roof, frowning. _Today...did not go as planned. But if there is an upside, with all of them awakening like that...this town should be safer than before…_

"Hello!" came a sing-song voice from behind him, startling him out of his reverie and almost causing him to fall clean off the building. He spun, going for his spirit bow's focus, only to find it missing.

Kisuke Urahara stood before him, dangling the small cross between his fingers and giving a sheepish grin. "Please don't attack me...I'm but a humble shop owner."

Uryu snatched it back, slipping the loop around his wrist with an irritated sigh. "I'll be better next time. He won't overshadow me like that again…"

Kisuke gave a noncommittal shrug, fanning himself. "You're assuming there'll be a 'next time'...frankly, I'm sure most people would prefer if you refrained from unleashing hordes of vengeful spirits on the town in future."

"You seemed pleased enough."

Kisuke's voice lowered for a moment. "I'm not most people." Immediately after, the seriousness passed and he brightened up again. "But, well, good to see you're doing all right! Just stopping by is all." He glanced at the group heading away down the road below. "You may want to keep an eye on Miss Kuchiki, you know…"

Uryu raised an eyebrow at this. "What?"

"What?" Kisuke repeated. "Hmm? Oh, nothing, nothing, don't mind me, mind wandered. Must be going!" He sauntered away for a few steps, then vanished into an untraceable blur.

Uryu remained standing there for a few seconds, staring after him. _What is with that guy…?_

* * *

As a black cat slunk across a telephone line in the dead of night, the door to the Kurosaki household slowly creaked open. Rukia winced at the loud noise. She didn't want to wake anyone in the household. It would be pretty rude of her to not say any goodbyes and to disrupt their sleep.

Turning her back on the place she had come to know as home for the last few months, Rukia began to run into the night. However, her presence didn't go unnoticed…

"Captain Tosen, I have eyes on the fugitive, Rukia Kuchiki."

"I sense very little Reiatsu…"

"It appears that she has been hiding inside of a Gigai, Captain. It would explain how the sensors were unable to obtain her location."

"Until now. The arm of justice is long, Lieutenant, and it knows no barriers."

* * *

 _What we're hoping to do with this story is deconstruct and reconstruct Bleach into something we feel it could have been, had some concepts and characters been explored more deeply, without some of the trappings of the Shonen genre. Nothing against Shonen of course, it is a great genre that we enjoy greatly, but it has a distinctive feeling that we're not trying to replicate here. We're trying to make a story that is still recognizably Bleach while something different from the canon material at the same time, if that makes sense._

 _Captain Space is about to explain a little more in depth though, so… please read on._

-Ultimate Black Ace (Creative Editor)

 _So essentially this story is less an AU and more a rewrite, which means there will be changes from canon which aren't the result of a single divergence point as such, and simply because we felt that was how this story should develop (though of course the changes we do make will spiral out into continuing consequences throughout the story in AU fashion)._

 _Also, fear not, we won't be like throwing in a bunch of self-insert OCs or anything; we're gonna be using the cast we've got to tell what'll hopefully be an entertaining, satisfying story._

 _In any case, there is usually one of a set few reasons for the changes we make:_

 _-It's part of an attempt to fix some of the problems we feel began to set into Bleach as it went along. Now, this does include changes to earlier arcs like this one even though we like those arcs very much*_ — _we just think that in hindsight you can sort of see the seeds being sown for the downhill slide even in the parts of Bleach that are on their own very good._

 _-We didn't want to simply write up canon, so we added a fresh twist to a scene to keep it interesting for this story. Usually this still ends up feeding into one of the other reasons though._

 _-It's part of/important for a character's development. Almost_ everyone _has some sort of arc planned out for them._

 _So yeah. To sum up, rewrite, so if this doesn't sound too pretentious, try and go into this with the mindset you did when first viewing the series! So hopefully you won't be asking, "Why did that change happen?" But rather, "I wonder what'll happen next?" Or even, "I wonder where they're going with this change?" I hope that makes sense, and I hope you enjoy reading this as much as we enjoyed writing it (and as much as we enjoyed Bleach's high points)!_

 _(*To clarify where I think we stand though the others may correct me if I'm misrepresenting their views, these are certainly mine: Substitute Soul Reaper arc, pretty decent. Soul Society, absolutely fantastic. Arrancar, still entertaining but the cracks sort of beginning to show. Hueco Mundo, plenty of decent moments but especially towards the end the bad starts to outweigh the good. Fake Karakura Town, ugh. Fullbring, largely pointless. Thousand-Year Blood War, bleeeeegh.)_

-Captain Space (Writer)

 _I am a bit higher on the Hueco Mundo arc than my compatriots. I also am a believer that the Bount Arc was one of the best arcs in the entire series. Yay opinions!_

-LucifVegeta (Editor)

 _I was asked to say a few words here, to really help legitimize the story and show how serious we are as a team to consistently putting out amazing chapters._

…

 _TRANSMISSION OVER!_

 _*headbutts screen*_

-FinalFlashX (Writer)


	2. Chapter 2: Dread

**Chapter 2: Dread**

 _I dunno how I keep getting talked into this…_ Tatsuki shook her head, making her way down the darkened street, passing from one flickering pool of light to the next. Sleepovers at Orihime's inevitably involved the consumption of sugar on a scale not meant for mere mortals. _Of course, with that girl it all goes straight to her curves._ She snorted, kicking a can away down the street. _I'm not insecure. I'm not the complaining type. Just, maybe it'd be nice if people could tell I wasn't a boy from ten feet away. Right?_

Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud patter of feet—Rukia, sprinting across the road and vanishing into an alley. "Hey! Rukia?" she called, but got no reply. _Weird...what's got her so spooked?_

 _Maybe...another attack's coming? Those...whatchacallem...Hollows! More of 'em?_ She hesitated, about to tear off after Rukia. _I mean...if I can use that power again, I can take a couple. But if it was just one or two, she'd just sic Ichigo on 'em, right? So...is this more like last time?_

 _Something big, anyway._

Her mind made up, she turned and sprinted off towards her original destination—Orihime's house. _Time to rally the troops, I guess._

* * *

Rukia's eyes were locked onto her feet as she continued to sprint down the road. She didn't know where she was running to, but she had to get away from here. It had slowly begun to dawn on her these past few days, ever since the Menos Grande attack, that she had fallen into a trap. She wasn't human, she was a Soul Reaper. This wasn't her world; she shouldn't become so attached to it.

Every moment she stayed here, it was just making it harder and harder to face the inevitable reality that she could never truly belong. She could play school as much as she wanted too, sitting around at lunch gossiping with the others about who liked which boy, but it was all just an illusion. A nice dream, but just that, a dream. Someday, she would have to wake up and go back to the Soul Society. To her reality, to her real life.

She hated to admit it, but she had grown quite fond of the people here. She had begun to look forward to sitting with Tatsuki and Orihime, eating lunch together and in joyful companionship. She took comfort in Chad's stalwart silence, and most of all...she had begun to look forward to seeing Ichigo every day. Their adventures together in battling Hollows as a team had been quite the experience. She didn't think that there were any romantic feelings blossoming inside of her as her classmates had suggested, but he had become her friend. Maybe her greatest friend since _his_ death.

But Soul Reapers weren't supposed to have friends. They were considered a burden, an unnecessary commodity in the militarized organization. It did make sense. It's much easier to complete your assignment when you're not worried if the person beside you lived or died. Efficiency was key to the Soul Society. What would make each Soul Reaper more efficient at their job? In the end, it seemed the higher powers decided that emotions were simply a burden. Since an emotionless army was much better suited to combat an army of monsters, such troublesome things as friendship, love, and compassion were discouraged throughout the ranks.

Here, in the Human World, it was completely different, though. Things such as friendship were valued above all else. The more time she spent here, the more she became used to the "human" way instead of the Soul Reaper way. And the more time she spent here, the more she became attached to her new friends and newfound freedom, unfortunately establishing that it would be harder to let go of such things when the inevitable happened. In the end, she would have to go back to the Soul Society. She didn't want to make that departure any more painful than it already was, so best to cut ties with this world now. It was time to wake up and face reality again. It was time to leave Ichigo and the others behind.

"I've...I've spent far too much time in this world," she said, forcing back tears.

"Correct."

Shivers ran down Rukia's spine as a cold, baritone voice seemed to whisper directly into her ear. The petite woman couldn't help but leap back in surprise, attempting to put some distance between herself and the speaker.

"Calm yourself, Kuchiki. Hysteria ill-suits your station." Even someone like Ichigo would have been able to tell that this was not an ordinary Soul Reaper. A white coat was draped over the underlying black robes; reflective goggles obscured his eyes; a scarf encircled his neck, rising to an odd point behind his head. "Besides, the just have nothing to fear from the law."

Rukia couldn't believe her eyes. They couldn't have...they wouldn't...they did...they sent a _Captain_ here?!

"Cap...Captain Tosen," she stammered, the pressure of his Reiatsu beginning to crush down on her like a boot on an ant. "Why? Why are you here?"

"I shall do my best to take everything you say seriously, Kuchiki," he replied, his voice unnaturally calm. "In return, I request you do not insult my intelligence by asking questions you already know the answer to. You are henceforth under formal arrest. The charges, numerous; the penalty—should you be found guilty—death."

* * *

"Damn it, Rukia. What were you thinking running off on your own like that?"

Ichigo gnashed his teeth together as he sprinted down a powerline. He couldn't believe her! Just running off in the middle of the night and leaving that stupid coded message for him. Why did she even code it in the first place? Just to waste more of his time!?

The orange-haired Soul Reaper paused for a second, looking off into the distance where he felt that enormous Reiatsu. Even with his unrefined sensing abilities he was able to pinpoint that monstrous energy source effortlessly. Mr. Hat-and-Clogs had told him that more agents from the Soul Society had been dispatched here in order to retrieve Rukia. Even from this distance though, Ichigo could tell that this was unlike any opponent they had ever faced before. If she had just stayed put, he would be there to help her! Damn it, why was she so difficult!?

"What have you gotten yourself into, Rukia…" he muttered. Turning the corner, Ichigo prepared to launch himself forward, but he stopped himself when he heard a familiar voice calling out to him.

"The road not good enough for ya?"

Looking over his shoulder, Ichigo was surprised to see Tatsuki, with Orihime, and Chad trailing behind her, running straight towards him. Raising an eyebrow, he leapt down onto the street as they came to a halt at the corner.

"Tatsuki? Chad? Orihime? What are you doing here?"

"Same as you, I'm guessing," Tatsuki answered. "Rukia's not with you? Don't tell me you guys already took out all the Hollows..."

"No, I don't know where Rukia is. Though I have a pretty good idea…"

"You don't know?" Orihime tutted, shaking her head as if admonishing a child. "You're always losing track of things, Ichigo."

Ichigo gave the girl a bewildered look. "I sort of know—look, this really isn't—"

"So, what...you're just running off alone to take all the action for yourself?" Tatsuki cut in.

"Will you shut up, it isn't like that okay," Ichigo growled. "Rukia ran off, and there's apparently some goons from the Soul Society after her. I have to find her before they do."

" _We_ have to find her," Tatsuki insisted.

"No way," Ichigo said, recoiling slightly from the group. "It's way too dangerous! These aren't simple Hollows, these guys are on a completely different level. I can't let you tag along and wind up getting hurt."

"Excuse me? 'Let' us?!"

"Look, that's not what I—"

"We shouldn't be wasting time arguing if Rukia's in danger," Chad said, finally speaking.

"Right!" Orihime pounded a fist into her palm, face so serious it was almost comical.

Ichigo was silent for a second. Looking into the faces of his friends, his eyes softened as he saw the determination in each of their faces _._ After examining each one of them, his shoulders slumped a little and he sighed. There was just no winning against the three of them.

"Do what you want..." he muttered, turning his back on the group to press onward, "...if you can keep up."

* * *

"Desertion...use of an unauthorised Gigai...grand misuse of your powers, and the subsequent loss and irresponsible relinquishing thereof...the resulting endangerment of human lives and Soul Society property...these are the charges." Tosen's voice never wavered, speaking as if reading off a page.

"I didn't," Rukia stammered, slowly backing away from her accuser. "I...I only did what I thought was best…"

"The path of the righteous is the path least soaked in blood," he responded. "I find that hard to reconcile with your actions on Earth."

"What I did was to save lives!" argued Rukia. "If I hadn't given up my powers, an entire family would have been killed by a Hollow."

"Had you not been so careless, such drastic action would not have been necessary!" Tosen countered. "And look at all that has happened since! This farcical 'contest', making a game of our appointed duty and endangering this entire city! As a result of all of this…"

A pained look crossed his face. "...neither you or your human 'replacement' can be allowed to live. The law is clear on this."

Rukia's muscles felt as if they were made of lead as she attempted to escape from the Captain's crushing Reiatsu and accusations. When she tried to move, though, her legs gave out on her and she was sent tumbling to the ground. Still she continued her vain effort to flee, pushing off with her feet, and managing to make it a few inches further back. Her progress was quickly halted by the stone wall that framed the street. Wishing she could melt into the wall her back was pressed against, Rukia felt fear take hold over her entire body.

"There's no need to run, Rukia Kuchiki," Tosen said, a hint of sadness in his voice as the sound of his blade sliding out of its sheath hissed through the night. "This is—"

The words suddenly died on the man's lips; his ears twitched slightly, the rest of his body going perfectly still. A brief expression of confusion crossed over Rukia's face at her hunter's bizarre motions. She realized what had drawn the Captain's attention when the hum of energy filled her own eardrums. Whipping her head to the left, Rukia just spotted the blue arrow as it raced directly towards Tosen's temple. However, the spiritual projectile never reached its mark—it was suddenly diverted before the dark-skinned Captain even moved.

"Are you alright, Captain Tosen?" asked a tall, lean man with short, black hair, and the number 69 tattooed on his left cheek. His blade still quivered from its brief contact with the arrow; the moonlight, reflecting off its gleaming steel, danced across his scarred face.

"Yes. Thank you, Hisagi."

Rukia mentally berated herself as Hisagi gave his Captain a small nod. Of course Lieutenant Shuhei would be here as well! Were her abilities really that dull that she could not only miss the presence of a Gotei 13 Captain, but a Lieutenant as well!?

"Show yourself," demanded Hisagi. "Only a coward strikes from the confines of the shadows."

"I'm the coward here?" came Uryu's voice, an odd tension underlying his words, forming a strange contrast with his slow, measured pace. His bow hummed at his side, seemingly held at ease, but his grip was white-knuckled. "Call me crazy, but might I suggest that the two men with swords, assaulting an unarmed woman in the dead of night, are in no position to be throwing such accusations?"

"Who are you?" Hisagi asked, his eyes narrowing, closely observing the bespectacled teen's approach.

"This spiritual pressure…" muttered the blind Captain, before turning his head to the newcomer. "You're a Quincy."

"Perhaps…" Uryu answered, "Or perhaps I'm just a concerned classmate with a grudge against you Soul Reapers."

"Whoever you are, this matter doesn't concern you," Hisagi said. "I suggest you be on your way, Quincy. I have no wish to kill you."

"I believe that puts us at an impasse," Uryu said, slowly raising his bow, "since I would very much like to kill you."

"Ishida, don't!" Rukia screamed.

The tall Soul Reaper's body tensed, his sword dropping into a ready position as he prepared to blitz the Quincy. However, the Lieutenant's body froze as a gentle hand rested on his shoulder, the tension leaving him instantly.

"Quincy, there is no need for this to end in violence," Tosen said, finally turning so that he was facing the teen. "You are outnumbered and outclassed. Put down your weapon. Please. Needless bloodshed is a terrible thing."

"He's got a point, Ishida." Uryu and Rukia's eyes widened with surprise in unison as both Soul Reapers whirled around to confront this new voice. "You _are_ outnumbered...maybe I can help with that."

"Ichigo," Rukia whispered breathlessly as the orange-haired teen leapt from the trees and landed behind the pair of Shinigami. His giant Zanpakuto was drawn, leaning against his shoulder. His face contorted into an ugly snarl as he set his sights on the confrontation.

"Tsk, you Soul Reapers really piss me off. Droning on and on about not having a reason to fight and not wanting to shed blood! Don't try and sell me that bullshit because I ain't buying. You're here to hurt Rukia, and I'm here to stop you."

"Again with this 'I'm' thing! This isn't a one-man show, y'know."

Ruka felt her jaw almost completely unhinge as the rest of her friends burst from the bushes, taking their places behind Ichigo. Tatsuki wore a confident smirk as she punched her fist into her open palm, sending sparks flying into the night air.

"Step away from Rukia!" she exclaimed. "Don't make me add an 'or'."

Chad nodded his agreement, raising his transformed arm to his face in the pose of a boxer. Smoke spewed from his shoulder as if the limb was a furnace on full blast as he eyed the two Soul Reapers with steely resolve. Orihime was silent for once, fighting to keep her pacifistic urges at bay.

 _Their powers… they've all awakened again!_ thought Rukia as she watched the scene in awe. _Last time it took them all having their lives hanging in the balance to activate their abilities, but now...Have their powers grown that much, or am I really...that important to them?_

"It seems like you've brought quite the rescue party, Kurosaki," Uryu said, a humourless grin twitching onto his lips.

"I told you that I could fix that problem for ya," Ichigo said, a smirk of his own emerging. "Now then…"

Tosen and Hisagi remained silent as Ichigo turned his attention back to them, lowering his sword to point directly at them. His grip tightened around its hilt as he laid out his ultimatum.

"If you really don't want to fight, then you only have one option. Leave and never come back, cause that's the only way you'll leave here without one."

"Ichigo, you guys…" mumbled Rukia. The color left her cheeks and her face went gaunt. "You fools! Why did you come!? Get out of here now or you'll be killed!"

"So, this must be the human who received her powers," Hisagi stated. "Thanks for coming. Saves us the trouble of tracking you down."

"I ain't runnin'," Ichigo said, his voice dropping dangerously low.

"Don't worry, Rukia, we got this," said Tatsuki.

"Yeah! There's nothing we can't do if we're working as a team!" Orihime exclaimed, sounding almost cheerful. Her confidence quickly melted away, though, when she saw Tosen's head turn towards her, the colour rapidly draining from her face before the blind gaze.

"Your confidence is admirable, but lamentable," he murmured before turning back to Rukia. "Do you see now? Because of you, all of these lives have been placed in the line of fire. I am a merciful man, but even I have my limits."

"Hey! We're not done—argh!"

Ichigo let out a grunt of pain as he barely raised his sword in order to parry a surprise blow from the Soul Reaper. Grinding his teeth together, he attempted to push his attacker back but was surprised when the Lieutenant didn't even move a centimetre.

"Pray that you do not discover them," Tosen finished, not reacting to the violent clash behind him..

"Your reflexes aren't bad for a rookie," Hisagi commented, his eyes locked onto Ichigo's, "but your technique is still so unrefined."

"You talk too much," Ichigo growled. "I don't give a damn about my technique or any of that crap."

Hisagi frowned. "You're right, enough talk. I'll try and end this quickly."

"Allow me."

The words were preceded by a fraction of a second by a pair of energy-wreathed arrows, on a direct course for Hisagi's head. The black-haired Soul Reaper's eyes widened slightly as he peered over his shoulder at the deadly missiles. Wasting no time, he delivered a kick to Ichigo's gut that sent the substitute Soul Reaper reeling backwards. His sword was a blur as he struck out like a cobra, the arrows blinking out of existence after glancing off his blade.

After disposing of the projectiles, he realised that he was now surrounded. The other three humans had gradually advanced while he was occupied, though they'd been more cautious than Uryu, due to Ichigo being in the way. They began to move now, Hisagi matching pace with them, eyes flicking from one to the other. There didn't seem to be much power emitting from any of them, but their abilities were a complete unknown. He would have to be proceed with caution.

Tatsuki was the first to break for him, angling herself as if to make a direct charge then ducking down at the last moment to kick at his legs. He slammed his sword into the ground between them, her foot rebounding off the flat; she spun with the impact, keeping her other foot on the ground as a pivot, her sparking fist passing within inches of Hisagi's face as he pulled back.

He deflected another blow, and this time a jolt ran up his arm, the charge surrounding her flowing down the metal of his weapon; he had to tighten his grip to avoid losing it. _I see...by avoiding contact I'll be able to circumvent her ability. Fortunately, she's only capable of fighting in close quarters._

He feigned being slightly too slow to block her next attack, letting her arm pass by his blade before bringing up his off-hand. " _Bakudo #8...Seki._ " An expanding hemisphere of force rippled out almost invisibly from his forearm, catching her deceptively slowly, then rapidly accelerating and hurling her back down the street, a string of incoherent threats following in her wake.

Her motion was stopped by a shimmering field of energy that sprung up behind her, cushioning the impact. Orihime stood at the far end, letting the shield dissipate before turning back to Hisagi. _Okay...don't hesitate! He looks human, but...this is an enemy!_ She calmed her breathing, raising both arms.

"Tsubaki. Koten Zanshun." The little sprite leapt forth, a razor-disc of energy forming about his body. " _I reject!_ " she shouted, launching the attack.

Hisagi swung around, trying to analyse the incoming energy—it wasn't any kind he recognised. He hurriedly raised his sword, remaining tensed-up to move in case the disc displayed some special property. He was able to parry it away without much trouble, though.

"What exactly...was that?" he wondered, frowning and examining his blade where the attack had struck; there was an odd scorch mark running across the metal.

His thoughts were interrupted by movement from two directions—Chad thundered in from his right while to his left, Uryu loosed another pair of arrows. Hisagi gritted his teeth, throwing himself back as the arrows passed by. Chad had re-angled his charge and slipped under Hisagi's guard, his inhuman right arm driving into the Lieutenant's side and knocking him clean through a high wall, bringing the stonework crashing down around him.

Orihime gave a thumbs-up, her face brightening. "Nice going, Chad!"

Chad gave a blank look. "Uh...sure…"

Tosen's posture shifted, almost imperceptibly. Rukia went even paler, seeing this. Things were bad enough already, but if the Captain got involved…

The pile of rubble split open, Hisagi standing with a slight sigh, shaking some of the dust from his robes. "I wouldn't start celebrating yet. Sorry if I gave the impression you caught me off-guard. I just wanted to test your strength." He jumped back into the street, approaching Chad. "Like I thought, you're not bad, but your energy still lacks focus."

"How about tryin' out mine!"

Hisagi raised his Zanpakuto and blocked an overhead, two-handed blow from Ichigo with only a single arm. Leaping backwards to put some distance between them, the Lieutenant had plenty of time to anticipate the teen's next couple of strikes.

"Heh, yours is even more wild," Hisagi responded, his cold eyes looking over their locked blades. "One look at that oversized piece of junk and I can tell that you lack the concentration necessary to truly harness your Reiatsu. See?"

Ichigo's eyes widened as he looked down and watched in horror as the Soul Reaper's blade began to cut into his own.

"Your Zanpakuto has size, but that's all it has."

"Bastard," Ichigo growled, sliding his sword down his opponent's before taking a swipe at him. Hisagi easily avoided the clumsy attack before lashing out with a strike off his own. A gasp of pain escaped from the substitute Soul Reaper as the blade dug into his shoulder. Blood spilled from the newly formed gash as Hisagi quickly retreated backwards and out of reach of Ichigo's counter-strike.

Gnashing his teeth together and pushing the throbbing pain out of his mind, Ichigo quickly moved to close the gap between the two swordsmen. He hissed through the pain as he slashed down, hoping that gravity would help him overpower the dark-haired man's defenses. However, his blade was met with nothing but air as Hisagi quickly dived out of the way of Ichigo's arcing Zanpakuto. Sliding across the ground, the Lieutenant attempted to cut the teen's legs out from under him.

Reacting in the nick of time, Ichigo managed to leap over the sweeping sword and he breathed a sigh of relief as he landed with both legs still attached. However, that sigh was quickly turned into a scream of terror when he noticed a volley of arrows streaking towards him. Bending his body in ways he didn't even realize were possible, Ichigo managed to dodge all but one of the Quincy's barrage.

Piercing hot energy shot through his entire body as the arrow punctured his thigh. It took all of his willpower to keep from screaming bloody murder as he pulled out the bolt and let it dissipate into the air.

"What the hell, Ishida!?" he shouted, glaring daggers at his lanky classmate.

Uryu hadn't lowered his weapon. "I had him. You were in the way...I miscalculated slightly."

"Miscalculated slightly!? Try more like missing by a mile! You need to get your glasses fixed with that shitty aim of yours!"

"I—" Uryu began to retort, but the words died in his throat as a breath of wind swept over him from behind.

Ichigo simply stared. He hadn't seen Hisagi move—he was just _gone_ , and then the next second he was behind Ishida, sword raised.

"You've been taking shots at me for long enough," he said, sounding distant as he brought the hilt of his sword sharply down into Uryu's neck, the Quincy's body folding up beneath him.

"Ishida!" yelled Ichigo, all thought of anger towards his classmate forgotten. Raising his sword, he prepared to rush to Ishida's aid. Before he could even take a single step the scarred swordsman was already taking action. An otherworldly yellow aura shimmered around Hisagi's off hand as he traced the outline of an upside-down pyramid into the air, creating a glowing triangle.

" _Bakudo #30...Shitotsu Sansen_."

On command, each of the triangle's three points extended outwards, taking the appearance of three vicious talons, before shooting towards Ichigo. He felt as if he were being hit by a truck as the spearheads of light crashed into him and sent him rocketing backwards. Slamming into the wall with a sickening crunch, Ichigo coughed up a clot of blood as the golden restraints locked around his shoulders and his waist.

Hisagi walked up to Ichigo, unhurried, raising his sword and calculating the ideal path for an instantly-lethal strike. Right as he was about to make his move, there came a faint buzzing from behind him, rapidly growing louder.

He jerked to the side, Orihime's disc attack passing by and drawing a long, thin cut down his cheek as he barely evaded it. He took a stumbling step back, turning towards her and clamping a hand to the side of his face.

This gave Rukia pause. _They drew the blood of a Lieutenant! I'd actually start feeling hopeful…_ Her eyes flicked back to Tosen for a moment. _...if_ he _wasn't here._

"That was stronger than last time…" Hisagi muttered, wiping most of the red trail from his face. His body blurred slightly, then the next moment he stood in front of Orihime. "You don't seem comfortable on the battlefield...sorry about this."

"You will be!" Tatsuki sprung up from where she'd lain on the ground between them, her fist driving upwards into his jaw, snapping his head back and sending him staggering away a few steps. "You think one hit would keep me down _that_ long?"

"Ugh…" Hisagi shook his head, trying to clear the dizziness. "Clever." Before he could fully regain his balance, she was pressing her momentary advantage.

He managed to dodge the first couple blows, but the third came on too fast—bracing himself for the shock, he brought his sword around to parry. The hit never came, though; she placed both hands on the back of the blade and pushed herself up, flipping over completely and bringing her charged-up leg down towards his head. He reacted just in time, blocking with his left arm and grunting as another electric jolt ran through his body; digging his heels in, he pushed away, shoving her back through the air and taking a moment to regain his composure.

"Do you require assistance, Lieutenant?" Tosen asked, his sword still hanging loosely in his hand. "They seem to be pressuring you."

"It's under control," Hisagi said sharply, making a beeline for Tatsuki, his blade flashing out—

"Hinagiku—Lily—Baigon! Santen Kesshun— _I reject!_ "

—then rebounding off Orihime's suddenly-formed energy barrier. "Damn!" Hisagi growled. "What's _with_ her?"

His opponents didn't let up—he'd barely had time to register this when Chad came running at him again, Hisagi snapping his katana back to the ready position. He'd learned all he needed in order to defeat this one from their last, brief encounter, though. While the giant did pack a fair amount of power into that right hook of his, it left his body wide open for a counterattack from anyone quick enough to avoid the initial thrust. Unfortunately for his opponent, the Lieutenant was plenty fast enough to take advantage of the opportunity. Now all he had to was wait for Chad's attack, each of the dark-haired teen's steps signalling his approaching doom.

However, the opening never presented itself, as the muscular teenager suddenly dove to the ground only a few feet away from the Shinigami. Behind him, previously obscured by his broad shoulders, a fresh volley of Uryu's arrows now presented themselves.

"Damn—!" Hisagi threw himself backwards, desperately trying to evade them, but thanks to the ruse there wasn't enough time. He swung his sword in a quick upwards arc, managing to deflect the projectiles on course to cause serious damage, several more bolts still causing glancing hits as they tore past, drawing more blood.

Hisagi landed unsteadily on his feet, his breathing coming harder now. "I didn't expect this kind of resistance from four humans and half a Soul Reaper…" He had to stop playing it safe, start looking for ways to deal with them permanently, he decided.

The big one seemed to have the simplest solution, so Hisagi moved to take him down first, bringing up his katana and going for the obvious target—the bulky, armoured right arm. If he disabled that, it'd hopefully be one down.

* * *

Ichigo's mind went blank as he watched the Soul Reaper's blade carve through Chad's flesh. His body moved of its own will, attempting to wrench himself free from the golden shackles that imprisoned him. It was no use, though; the glowing bands didn't budge, and he was forced to watch helplessly as the scar-faced swordsman moved to cut down the rest of his friends.

"Damn...damn it," he growled as the Soul Reaper vanished for an instant before appearing directly in front of Uryu. The Quincy attempted to fire off an arrow to force Hisagi back, but before he could even draw back his bowstring the Shinigami stopped him in his tracks with an upwards slash that carved out a large gash in the archer's chest.

 _Why?_ Ichigo asked himself as scarlet blood was flung through the air. His wide eyes reflected off the crimson droplets that seemed to hang in suspended animation as the Zanpakuto reached the apex of it's arc while Uryu simultaneously crumpled to the ground. _Why am I so weak!?_

 _This can't be happening…_ he thought as the Lieutenant's head slowly turned to face the trembling Orihime and Tatsuki. _Did I really lead them all here just to die!?_

"It's unfortunate that you humans were caught in the middle of all this," Hisagi said, slowly closing the gap between him and the girls. "If you hadn't ever been involved with this traitor, if you hadn't come here tonight, you would probably have lived long, fulfilling lives. However..."

The Soul Reaper raised his blade, scarlet liquid still clinging to its edges.

"Now, I must fulfill my duty. Just know that I take no pleasure in this."

 _I have to do something! Move, damn it!_ Ichigo cursed as he watched Hisagi prepare to deliver the final blow. His fingernails were digging so hard into his palm that tiny streams of blood were beginning to wash over his knuckles. _Rukia...everyone...I have...I have to protect them all! This...this can't be all I've got!_

Banging his wrist against the shackles of light, Ichigo attempted to escape in order to help his friends. However, his efforts were in vain as his restraints refused to move an inch. Hanging his head in shame, Ichigo's eyes looked blankly at the discarded Zanpakuto that lay at his feet. Was this really the end?

 _No...no, I won't let it end this way! I...I can't lose! Not now, not when my friends need me! I will…_

"WIN!" he shouted as the floodgates suddenly burst open and an enormous surge of energy flowed from him like a tidal wave. Gale force winds exploded outward from Ichigo's body, causing the Lieutenant to pause mid-strike as his hair whipped around his face. With a simple shrug of his shoulders the Substitute Soul Reaper shattered the golden restraints that bound him and, without even lifting his head, scooped up his forsaken sword and charged Hisagi.

The dark-haired Soul Reaper barely had the time to turn and face the rejuvenated swordsman before he was set upon. He was only saved by reflexes honed from decades of experience, barely managing to block a powerful two-handed strike meant to cleave him in half. Even though he deflected the blow, Hisagi was sent skidding back several feet by the brute strength behind the attack. Before he could even get his bearings, Ichigo was back on top of him, their swords clashing once again.

"What...what happened to you?" a stunned Hisagi muttered.

"Heh, I don't really know myself," Ichigo answered honestly, his head still hung so that his face was covered in shadows. "Right now, there's only one thing I'm certain of…"

Hisagi's eyes widened with a mixture of shock and horror as the orange-haired teen raised his head, revealing his expression to the Lieutenant. Now it was beginning to dawn on him why he and Captain Tosen had been sent to the Human World to deal with a simple case of desertion.

"I feel incredible!" Ichigo said, a crazed look in his eyes, a wild grin plastered across his face.

* * *

 _I haven't got quite as much of a ramble as last chapter, but I will say this: In case how this chapter ends gives that indication, don't worry, this isn't just gonna be the Ichigo And His Little Friends Show. I mean, we certainly have a character arc and cool moments in mind for him, but we hope to balance him with other characters and such._

 _-Captain Space_

 _One of our goals with in this story is to give everyone we can a significant role. Right now, of our cast, that's focused on Chad and Tatsuki, neither of whom are too vital to the story in canon sadly. And one aspect of this process? Battle experience so that they can grow stronger. That's one of the reasons why we chose a different Captain/Lieutenant pair, Renji would likely be overwhelmed by everyone while Hisagi can handle multiple foes much easier, due to greater experience and a more diverse skillset. Namely Kido skill, which you'll see in the next chapter. That's not to say that we're shafting Renji, he's still going to be an important character. It's just not his time to shine_ _ **yet**_ _._

 _-Ultimate Black Ace_

 _Thanks for reading. Your support is always appreciated! And, of course, monetary donations are accepted. In fact, encouraged. In fact, mandatory. So… yeah, get on that._

 _-LucifVegeta_

 _*Inaudible grunt*_

 _-Anonymous_

 **Review:** I wanted to give this story a 5 star rating but since the title is not "Number One" best I can do is 4.9. So sad.  
All kidding aside this was an awesome first chapter. Having Tatsuki actually get her powers is a nice change by itself. While I always like Orhime, I would have preferred Tatsuki in the role of lead girl(well Rukia is technically the secondary main character but ya'll get my drift). The action here is wonderful as I expected of this talented team up. The battles really pop and have that bleach Vive we all know and love.  
The characters are what make this first chapter sing though. Even though this is a rewrite, it still very much feels like Bleach. Everyone from Ichigo to good old Urahara feels just right. I liked the little changes to Ishida and Ichigo's history, I think we can all agree that they make great rivals to each other.  
In your author's note you mentioned that you want your reader to ask "what's next"? Well I for one am asking that question. Fantastic opening chapter guys, keep it up! Bleach fans, this is an easy follow and favorite. Can't wait for more!

 **Space:** If I were a mature and responsible sort, I would congratulate my fellow creators on a job well done. But I'm far from that, so I'll just laugh and take full credit for the Tatsuki and Urahara stuff. (...okay but seriously well done everybody.)  
 **FinalFlashX:** You ruined the suspense of the reader playing the "Guess who actually wrote this part?" game. Good job, Space.  
 **LucifVegeta:** 4.9? Not good enough. Writers, you will all be receiving a pay cut immediately.  
 **Ultimate Black Ace:** I appreciate that you think so highly of this team up. Sadly, only two of us are actually tested writers as of this point (namely FinalFlashX and Captain Space), but we all hope to have this collaboration be worthy of your expectations. And Lucif, we can't go into negative wages.

 **Review:** I've never watched/read Bleach.

 **FinalFlashX:** Well I've never watched/read _Higurashi no Naku Koro ni_ , so there. It is decided! I win!  
 **LucifVegeta:** Well now you get the opportunity to read the next best thing: A random fanfic written by Captain Space and FinalFlashX and edited by me and Ultimate Bla- uh… You know, you could probably do better.  
 **Space:** That's okay, Bleach hasn't watched you either.  
 **Ultimate Black Ace:** Then it's probably a good thing that this project starts early on in the Bleach story, there isn't too much important technical stuff that you've missed that won't be explained later on.

 **Review:** I've always been a big fan of Bleach. Even before I really got into shonen or Dragon Ball, Bleach was a big thing to me. Even though I haven't really liked a lot of it, and feel like it would have been great without the introduction bankai, Arrancar, and most other powers that steadily got bigger and bigger and bigger, I still read it weekly.  
I'll be reading this story as well, as I like the changes already. Tatsuki getting any type of power is always a plus in my book; she's certainly skilled enough to use it. Different/more Shinigami showing up to capture Rukia certainly changes things up a lot, as well. I'm looking forward to seeing how this all plays out, and where you take the cast.  
Also, I see Ulquiorra's listed as one of the main cast members right now. I've always been a fan of his, so I'm interested in seeing what you do with him, and how/when you plan to introduce him. I must say, the cast does seem in-character from what I've seen here. Keep it up and you'll all have a hit on your hands.

 **FinalFlashX:** Where'd Space go? Guess your question killed him.  
 **LucifVegeta:** About time. We had to get rid of Space somehow.  
 **Ultimate Black Ace:** Wait… if Space is gone how did we post? I blame the illuminati.

 **Review:** Good start

 **Space:** I'd like to think so, yes.  
 **FinalFlashX:** It was terrible.  
 **LucifVegeta:** Anything less and my co-workers would be receiving fifty lashes each.  
 **Ultimate Black Ace:** And hopefully we can also have a good middle and ending. _Please no more lashes, Lucif. Please._

 **Review:** I'm looking forward on what you guys have in store for Aizen, yhwach, the espada, stern ritter, and everything else once you guys definitely get the ball rolling lol.

 **Space:** My fellow creators are about to be _extremely diplomatic_ about the fact that people have varying tastes. Ahem:  
 **FinalFlashX:** F*ck Yhwach and the Stern Ritter.  
 **LucifVegeta:** I couldn't have said it better myself, Flash. So I'll repeat it: F*ck Yhwach and the Stern Ritter.  
 **Ultimate Black Ace:** We've only planned for Aizen and the Espada, as we view Aizen's defeat as where Bleach really should have ended. Bleach, for a long time focused on Ichigo's journey to defeat him. It wasn't about his personal growth or anyone's journey. It was about beating the bad guy. And so addressing Ywach or the Fullbringers doesn't feel important. The character arcs are planned to be wrapped up by Aizen and as such there are no plans to continue beyond that.

 **Review:** This chapter was a great read!  
First off, perfect point in time to start the rewrite, any sooner would've been boring and any later would've been less interesting.  
Tatsuki getting powers is a really interesting idea. She's always been one of my favourite characters and as a human, she kicks ass. But as a superpowered human, she'll kick...more ass?  
Also, was her Lightning Aura power derived from the parody filler episode the anime did? I believe it was called Urahara's Special Squad or something.  
I bet Captain Space will enjoy writing Urahara's lines. All. Those. Puns.  
Tousen and Hisagi are coming to retrieve Rukia? I guess it makes sense since Aizen was hunting for the Hougyoku and Tousen is his trusted underling.  
But I'll miss the rivalry created between Renji and Ichigo due to that scene in the original. Byakuya's role wouldn' be changed much though, I'm sure Ichigo will run into him in Soul Society.  
Great job so far, everyone! Any plans for a release schedule?

 **Space:** Thanks very much! Ace designed her powers (he does that sort of thing, generally), so he'd know if that was the inspiration. (Is that what the anime called them? Or the dub or something, dunno. I'm mainly familiar with the manga, and they're called Karakuraizer there...but I guess a reference to something like Akumaizer-3 would be somewhat lost on Western audiences anyway. Which is actually weird because they more resemble a Sentai than Akumaizer...I'm rambling.)  
Urahara is indeed very fun to write!  
Release schedule? Oh yes, we have a rigidly determined, meticulously-planned-AHAHAHAHAAAAAAAA (So yeah, no, it's just whenever we can all herd each other into working on it, and hopefully we'll release every so often.)  
 **FinalFlashX:** Seeing how expected Tatsuki getting powers seems to be, maybe we should have given powers to someone like...I don't know the Nerdy Player guy or that Guy Everyone Hates and Hits All The Time. I don't know their names because they suck, but it would have been surprising! ( _Note: But then there would have been less kickass karate girls around and I'd have had to hurt somebody. -Space.)  
_ **LucifVegeta:** I've released zero chapters in the past two years. As my teammates know, I am the destroyer of release schedules. My apologies.  
 **Ultimate Black Ace:** Tatsuki's powerset wasn't derived from anything specific. Rather, it comes from Flash's older story, Hollow Inside. Similarly to this story, there were plans to increase the number of important characters and Tatsuki was one of them. So I made a power set for that, which we found translated quite well for this story, especially since Tatsuki's role in H.I. was changed. Or, for a simpler explanation, Flash wanted her to have lightning powers, so I gave her lightning powers. As creative editor my job is apparently to create cool power-sets for the characters and do nothing else. Ever. Except for when I do other things.

 **Since my collaborators seem to have come down with a terrible case of jerk-itis, I'll send out a special thank-you to Roseblade22 for creating our awesome new Cover Art! She did an amazing job with it and I can't begin to thank her enough. So, I'll just start my first thanks of a thousand to follow and leave it at that. You're awesome, Rose!**

 **-Flash**


	3. Chapter 3: End of Storms

**Chapter 3: End of Storms**

Hisagi gritted his teeth together as his knees buckling underneath the enormous pressure the Substitute Soul Reaper was exerting on him. A human shouldn't be capable of generating this much Reiatsu, yet it kept rising!

Wanting to take back the momentum from his revitalized foe, the Lieutenant pushed back with his katana, causing them to disengage. He followed this up with a swift slash at Ichigo's sword arm, wishing to disarm him and end the fight immediately. However, as soon as his attack had begun, Hisagi knew it had failed; his blade curved down into nothing but air. The Lieutenant's instincts screamed at him to move and he only just managed to prevent the giant Zanpakuto from cleaving his arm in two. Blood welled from the long laceration and the Soul Reaper pressed his hand against it in a vain attempt to quell the bleeding. His mouth briefly twisted into a grimace as he wheeled about to face Ichigo. In contrast to his own surly disposition, the teenager held a confident smirk, evidently pleased at giving his seemingly indomitable opponent the first significant wound of the entire battle.

"Heh, what's wrong?" he asked, propping his sword against his shoulder. "You getting tired or something? You're moving real slow all of a sudden."

 _He really is a novice,_ Hisagi thought, panting slightly. _Can't he tell he's the one who's gotten faster? His spiritual pressure...it's unbelievable. Even now, when he's simply speaking, it threatens to burst out like a tidal wave._

"You seem to be enjoying this," the stoic man remarked, attempting to buy a little time as he cast a low-level healing Kido on his shoulder.

"Heh, why shouldn't I be? I feel incredible! It's like I've been walking around with lead shoes my entire life and I've finally taken them off! Plus..."

Ichigo lifted his sword, pointing the tip directly at the Soul Reaper's heart.

"You can't beat me now!"

"Tch," Hisagi spat. "Such arrogance. You manage to land one attack and suddenly you're unbeatable? Don't mistake luck for skill, rookie."

"We'll see how lucky it was when I beat you!"

Launching himself forward, dust kicking up around his heels, Ichigo again attacked with a crushing two-handed blow. The Soul Reaper was ready for him this time and managed to sidestep the attack. The giant piece of steel crashed into the ground, causing a huge crack to split into the asphalt for several feet. The hot-headed teen growled as he yanked his blade free just in time to parry his foe's counterstrike.

"Did you believe I'd stand there like some practice dummy?" Hisagi said, a hint of annoyance in his voice as he struck with several quick thrusts to Ichigo's torso. With his newfound reserve of stamina, the teenager was able to easily dodge around each stab before going on the offensive. His wild grin grew ever wider as he relentlessly pounded the Soul Reaper's guard, feeling it beginning to give way with each strike.

After delivering several overhead strikes, Ichigo sensed an opportunity to break through his enemy's guard. Feinting another overhead, he quickly changed his blade's direction with a flick of the wrist, now attacking with a sweeping uppercut. The power behind the slash sent the Lieutenant's tightly held arms flying apart, leaving his entire torso wide open. With a small shout of triumph, Ichigo moved in to give the finishing blow, but was shocked when his blade tasted nothing but concrete once again.

"You didn't think it would be that easy, did you?" Hisagi said, appearing right behind the Substitute Soul Reaper and cutting a long gash into his back.

Ichigo staggered forward as several trails of blood streamed down his torn Shinigami robe. Stepping back in order to steady himself, Hisagi raised his sword into a guard position. With the hot-blooded teen's increase in power, he was no longer an opponent that the Lieutenant could take lightly. There was definitely something...off about this fledgling warrior, and Hisagi's eyes narrowed as he watched his bent-over opponent like a hawk. The slightest movement would tip off the experienced swordsman to what kind of attack Ichigo would launch next, and he would be waiting with a counter for it.

However, his vigilance went unrewarded; the normally hasty Ichigo remained still as a painting. Hisagi cocked an eyebrow. Had the toll of battle finally caught up to the boy? Had he passed out where he stood? Never one for breaking from his discipline, Hisagi waited out his opponent until he finally began to move, nearly ten seconds later—an eternity on the battlefield.

It started as a small—almost undetectable—movement, but the heaves in Ichigo's shoulders became more and more pronounced as a small chuckle began to echo through the air.

"Amazing," he heard the orange-haired human mutter. "I don't...I don't feel a thing."

Throwing back his head and rolling his shoulders back, Ichigo howled with a maniacal laugh at the full moon hanging overhead. Snapping his head around, he ceased his laughter and gave Hisagi a wicked grin, a dangerous gleam dancing in his crystal blue eyes.

"You can't hurt me."

A flicker of doubt passed through the Lieutenant's eyes.

Without another word, Ichigo charged the alarmed swordsman, both hands wrapped around his Zanpakuto's hilt as the blade trailed behind him. Sparks sprung off the katana's tip as it dragged across the concrete. Hisagi frowned, giving a small 'tsk!' of annoyance, he angled his sword for a counterattack. Now the kid wasn't even trying to defend himself. The level-headed Soul Reaper had his pick of body parts to slice up.

Stepping inward to close the final gap between himself and the fervid teen, Hisagi struck with a downward slash. His Zanpakuto cut into the top of Ichigo's shoulder and then began to slice down through the tendon and into his left pectoral muscle. Making sure to place as much force as he could muster behind the attack, Hisagi planned to dig his blade as deep into his foe as he could. His hope was that delivering such a blow would disable the renegade human's left arm, effectively ending the battle. At the very least, the instant reflex of being wounded so severely would force the fiery teen to cease his current charge and attempt to put some distance between them. Confident in the decisiveness of his strike, Hisagi looked down into the face of his opponent as his steel tore through the boy's flesh.

Ichigo's grin grew wider.

Completely oblivious to any damage he was sustaining, the Substitute Soul Reaper simply drove through Hisagi's slash. The sober man's eyes widened in shock as his blade carved even deeper thanks to the boy charging straight into the attack. Ichigo remained unfazed as he pushed onward and lifted his own sword for an attack. Realizing his vulnerability, Hisagi swiftly cut his own strike short and attempted to retract his Zanpakuto from Ichigo's shoulder in order to evade the oncoming assault. Too late.

With a furious cry, Ichigo's blade rocketed upward in a sweeping cross. Beginning at Hisagi's hip, his gigantic Zanpakuto carved a diagonal line of crimson across the Soul Reaper's torso before exiting through his previously-injured shoulder. The man's normally grim face contorted into one of agony as he took an involuntary step backwards and clutched at his chest.

Bowing his head to stare into his blood-soaked palm, Hisagi simply stood in shock. Fortunately, he had been able to push off with his feet and lean back, so as not to take the full force of the blow. While the cut wasn't deep, it still felt as if he had been stung by a thousand wasps at once.

Looking up, Hisagi was met by the eyes of his opponent. They were full to the brim with confidence, a fiery resolve, and a hint of insanity only found in those who fully gave into the rush of battle. It was clear to the stoic Shinigami now that this particular opponent could not simply be "disabled" or forced to yield. The violent youth wouldn't stop fighting until he had drawn his last breath.

"Your power," he mumbled, staggering slightly as he straightened himself. "It's incredible. If I weren't witnessing it for myself, I wouldn't believe one so young could possess such an enormous Reiatsu."

"Believe it," Ichigo said between heavy breaths, a cocky grin dancing across his face. "Next time, I won't miss...I'll win this fight, no matter what. Everyone's depending on me. I can't lose."

"Such arrogance," Hisagi spat. "You're so certain you're in the right, when really you're meddling with forces beyond your comprehension. You don't know the difference between right and wrong, boy."

"I don't give a damn about right and wrong!" the adolescent fired back. "Who the hell would care about that now? All I know is that you're pointing a sword at my friends and that I have to stop you. That's all there is to it."

"Foolish. You should always be concerned with what is just and what is unjust. It's all that separates us from the monsters we fight."

"I don't give a damn about your lectures either."

Hisagi sighed. "I suppose a criminal such as yourself wouldn't be able to understand. All you understand is violence."

"I understand perfectly. You're stalling."

The Soul Reaper's stormy eyes narrowed. "Come then. Let us end this."

"Wrong," Ichigo stated as he crouched, gathering power into his legs. " _I'll_ end this!"

Launching himself into the night sky, the brash youth brought his Zanpakuto back behind his head in preparation for a crushing overhand blow. When he reached the apex of his jump, the boy's face was completely masked in shadow. Only the ghastly glow of his devilish smile shone out from the darkness down to the awaiting Lieutenant. It took an instant for Ichigo to emerge from the shadows and begin his descent, using the force of gravity in order to add an extra punch to his attack.

Without a moment of hesitation, Hisagi calmly raised his own sword up so that it rested horizontally in front of his bloody chest. Placing his off-hand against the dull edge of the katana, an orb of yellow energy sprung to life in the center of the blade.

" _Hadō #32. Ōkasen_."

After speaking the spell's name, the sphere of spirit energy instantaneously thinned until it had taken the same curved shape as his katana before being fired as a thin beam of golden energy. Ichigo's eyes widened, but he had no time to react before the Kido slammed into him and sent him flying back.

Crashing into the ground, the Substitute Soul Reaper coughed up blood as his back contorted awkwardly. The young warrior had no time to rest, though, because as soon as clarity returned to his vision, it was immediately filled with the black cloth of the Lieutenant's robes.

Pushing back the screaming pain in his muscles, Ichigo rolled out of the way of a sweeping sword stroke aimed for his neck. Leaping to his feet, the orange-haired highschooler was barely able to raise his sword in order to block another attack meant to decapitate him.

"As I said before, your Reiatsu is quite impressive. However…"

The dark-haired Soul Reaper began to pound away at the teen's guard, slowly battering it away and causing the younger fighter to begin losing his footing. Becoming frustrated with constantly being on the defensive, Ichigo attempted to counterattack with a thrust, but all his blade tasted was a blurred afterimage. By the time he turned his head around, a trail of blood was already spurting from his back as Hisagi's blade flashed through the air.

"In comparison to a true Soul Reaper, you're like a wolf cub attempting to fend off a cougar. Still too immature to be truly dangerous."

"Damn you!" Ichigo snarled as he rushed forward once again, slashing at the Shinigami wildly. His attack was easily parried by the smaller katana, and the teenager was forced to grit his teeth as he slowly began to be pushed back by the brute force now emitting from the scar-faced swordsman.

"So, you're still unable to feel the pain from your wounds?"

Hisagi leaned in until he was only a few inches away from Ichigo's. His voice was eerily calm as his eyes went blank, losing any hint of emotion, as he stated:

"Then I'll just have to cut until there's nothing left to feel."

* * *

Uryu's conscious mind gradually resurfaced; there was a repeated, irritating sensation in his side that was becoming hard to ignore.

"Stop kicking me," he murmured. "It's very rude."

"Well you weren't waking up to polite," Tatsuki replied, dragging his shoulders up and resting him so that he was seated against the wall. "How you feeling?"

"Better than I look."

"That wouldn't be hard." She stood away from him, turning to find Chad already up, though shaky, on his feet. "Chad?"

"I'm fine," he muttered, examining his arm for damage.

"Guys…" Orihime stood apart from them, facing towards the fight. "Ichigo's losing...he can't keep up."

"None of us can," Tatsuki grudgingly admitted. "Looks like _real_ Soul Reapers are something else."

Uryu sighed. "It's becoming increasingly clear we can't win this one-on-one. But, perhaps if we combine our skills..."

Orihime spun towards him, clasping her hands together, her cheer instantly returning. "Teamwork? Sounds great!"

"Uh…" Chad gave a vague, noncommittal gesture.

"Oh, c'mon!" Orihime sprang over to him and Tatsuki, placing an arm each on their nearest shoulder. "It'll work great!"

"All right, all right," Tatsuki laughed. "I can't argue with you when you're like this…"

"...okay," Chad mumbled.

"Excellent." Uryu adjusted his cracked glasses, levering himself up off the ground, using the wall for support. "Based on my observations of your capabilities...I have formulated a plan." He glanced over at the ongoing swordfight. "We don't have much time, so listen carefully—I'm only going to say this once."

* * *

"Ichigo…" Rukia muttered as she watched the Substitute Soul Reaper take another hit. A flicker of hope had sprung to life inside her when Ichigo had managed to overpower Hisagi, but it was quickly snuffed out when the Lieutenant took it up another level. The scarred Shinigami was dominating the fight now, and he hadn't even released his Shikai yet. There was no hope for Ichigo now.

Her teeth dug into her bottom lip while her eyes remained glued to the losing battle. This was all her fault. If she had never let her guard down during that first Hollow attack...If she had never dragged Ichigo and the rest of his friends into the world of Soul Reapers...If she had just left earlier before they had gotten too involved, or if she just hadn't left that note saying goodbye...then they would have a chance to live.

She had to do something. She couldn't stand by and do nothing as these people—no, her friends—were cut down before her eyes. Maybe if she could provide even the slightest of distractions, they would be able to escape.

Rukia's foot inched forward, her knee bending slightly as she prepared to launch herself at the Lieutenant. As she prepared to jump, her knee buckled when an enormous pressure bore down onto her shoulders, rooting her to the spot. Slowly turning to look over her shoulder, terror rose in Rukia's eyes as they met Captain Tosen's sightless gaze.

"You will not interfere," he said. "This execution is being carried out in accordance with the law. As a full member of the Gotei 13, you will be afforded slightly more respect; your judgement will come in the proper place and time, rather than at swordpoint in an alley."

"So I just have to watch?" she cried. "Where's your justice in that?"

"How you feel about it is irrelevant," he replied. "Only that it is carried out. If you do not wish to see it, close your eyes."

She didn't.

* * *

With every hammering blow Hisagi delivered, Ichigo's confidence was slowly being chipped away. His grin had dropped into a grimace as he desperately parried the lightning-fast strikes. He was barely keeping up, and his breathing had become ragged. Doubt crept into his mind while Hisagi's assault showed no signs of relenting.

He cursed at himself; he couldn't be thinking like that now. Even if it seemed impossible, even if the gap between his strength and the Shinigami's seemed insurmountable, he had to find a way to defeat him. It was all up to him. The lives of his friends, of Rukia's... they all rested on his shoulders. There was no way he could let them down.

Snarling, he slashed wildly at his opponent. The veteran was able to effortlessly evade the attack, but it did allow Ichigo a brief reprieve from the Soul Reaper's onslaught. Panting heavily, he raised his massive sword. This was his last chance to turn this fight around. He had to put everything he had into this strike.

Gnashing his teeth together, Ichigo poured every ounce of strength he possessed into a two-handed, overhead swing. In an instant, he closed the gap between him and the Lieutenant with an explosive leap forward. The gleaming steel of his massive Zanpakuto whistled through the air as it aimed to cleave Hisagi in half. A tiny smirk of confidence arose on Ichigo's face. The dark-haired swordsman had no time to dodge the strike now. He hadn't reacted fast enough to avoid the attack, and now he could only stand there waiting for the screaming blade's cruel bite.

Indeed, Hisagi didn't even attempt to dodge as Ichigo's swing came within an inch of his skull. Instead, his arm moved as a blur and his own katana sliced through the teen's like it was forged from clay. All the while, the Lieutenant's dead eyes never stopped boring into Ichigo's own.

Ichigo jumped at the sound of his broken blade crashing to the ground. His wide eyes darted down to the now-worthless hilt in his hand before lifting up just in time to see the Shinigami moving in for the kill. Ichigo saw the blood spurting from his chest before his brain even registered that Hisagi had struck.

Attempting to shrug off the wound like he had before, Ichigo attempted a step forward. However, his legs refused to move, and the exhausted teen fell to the ground face-first.

"Damn it…" Ichigo muttered, a trail of blood streaming from his bloody lip. His body trembled as he forced himself onto one knee. "A little scratch like this can't be what puts me down. I can't—"

The young warrior's eyes misted over as Hisagi delivered a swift pommel strike to the back of Ichigo's head. Quickly turning his head away, the Lieutenant flicked the excess blood from his blade as the teen collapsed into a small pool of crimson liquid.

"I'm sorry, boy."

Hisagi closed his eyes for a moment, bowing his head in acknowledgment of his fallen enemy. His eyes snapped back open, though, as a now-familiar noise met his ears. Twirling his katana like a baton, he was able to deflect a barrage of the lightning-blue arrows. On one hand, he was happy he could now detect the Quincy's projectiles simply from their sound; on the other, he was starting to get tired of the things.

He ran at Uryu, ducking and weaving, avoiding taking any hits despite the barrage of arrows coming his way, bringing his Zanpakuto around once he was in striking distance.

At that moment, Orihime's shield sprung up between them, Hisagi's weapon rebounding off of it, painful vibrations shooting up his arms. He stumbled back a few steps, trying to regain his balance. However, before he could fully recover, Chad and Tatsuki had already got into close range. His fist and her foot rammed into Hisagi's abdomen at once, taking him off his feet and sending him skidding back across the street.

He sat up, immediately hearing a tap of footsteps from behind him.

"You're a master swordsman, I'll give you that," Uryu said. "Let's see if that's all you are." The next moment, there was an unbelievable burst of pain as he put an arrow through Hisagi's shoulder, the sword falling from his spasming hand. Uryu stepped forwards, kicking it away, but in doing so he left himself unguarded. Hisagi, fighting through the pain, leapt up, punching him once in the head before tossing his limp form away.

 _Got to get to my—_ Hisagi came to a halt as Tatsuki and Chad put themselves between him and his weapon. His eyes narrowed, so that was the Quincy's plan. To disarm him and leave him at the mercy of their two melee fighters. A good strategy, even he had to admit, but he would not concede defeat so easily.

He made the first move, running straight for them then leaping as Chad lunged at him. Hisagi somersaulted over him, planting a kick to the back of his head and shoving him away. He landed in front of Tatsuki and continued fighting without missing a beat, their hands glancing off each other a few times before he slipped under her guard, grabbing her wristbands and throwing her by them. She slipped out of his grasp halfway through, turning in midair and snapping his head back with a backfist.

She tried to follow up, charging up her arm and swinging down at him, but he dodged this time, her electrified fist cracking the pavement. His last-minute evasion, however, put him directly in Chad's path, and his charge caught Hisagi completely by surprise, throwing him back against the wall.

Chad continued his forward motion, and Hisagi was still reeling from the first impact when the second hit him. They rocked back and forth for a few seconds, each struggling to unbalance the other. Hisagi felt himself being pushed further back. Deciding to switch tactics from brute force, he allowed all tension to leave his body for a moment, then pivoted on the balls of his feet and let Chad's attacking arm slide down his own, perpendicular to the Soul Reaper's new angle. Chad lurched forwards, straight into Hisagi's rising knee, winding him.

With his opponent reeling, Hisagi rammed three hard punches from his uninjured arm into Chad's unguarded stomach in rapid succession, neatly sidestepping as Chad toppled forwards.

He found himself directly in front of Tatsuki, wordlessly resuming their battle. She came around from his right, aiming a left hook at his side; he had to twist awkwardly to block with his good arm, and as soon as he'd done so, she grabbed his blocking wrist and pulled down hard. Her right leg snaked up towards him, and on instinct he brought his free right arm up to block, gasping as the impact sent pain stabbing through his injured shoulder, sending him staggering back.

She took the opening immediately, her other leg following up on the same attack path in the instant before he stumbled out of range and hitting him square in the face. She backflipped away, landing with a slight stumble as he hit the ground face-up.

"For one so young, your skills are impressive," he muttered, wiping his mouth before spitting out a bullet of blood. "However…"

Hisagi sprang into motion, snatching up the sword that lay behind him and leaping to his feet.

"Your lack of experience is still evident. Else you wouldn't have kicked me towards my weapon." His speed seemed to increase simply from holding his weapon again.

"Damn—!" Tatsuki hissed as he jumped at her, swinging an overhead strike down towards her. She brought both hands up, trying to trap the blade between them, but he turned away, behind her in the blink of an eye, already sheathing his sword, a lengthy slash carving its way down her back. She fell forwards, mouth moving silently.

Hisagi, doing his best to maintain his composure, turned to face his last attacker left standing: Orihime.

"I've cut down your friends because their resistance gave me no choice. But their spiritual powers shield their bodies to an extent. I don't believe yours work the same way." His eyes narrowed. "Do you intend to fight me alone?"

He got no response, but her stare didn't waver. He lowered his head slightly. "I see. That's unfortunate."

She tried to give no indication of when she would make her move, holding herself still until the last moment before snapping into motion. "Tsu—"

" _Bakudo #9—Horin!"_ Hisagi's staccato cry cut her off, a sphere of orange light forming between his hands before elongating. The tendril leapt through the air and, right as Orihime braced for impact, flew straight past her, reaching around behind and gathering up her dazed friends, leaping from one to the other before snaking back towards her and snaring her too. Hisagi pulled his arm back slightly, drawing the bundle towards him.

Hisagi gripped his end of the coil with his free hand, almost falling as the strain of the long battle weighed down on him.

" _Hado #11…_ " he breathed. "... _Tsuzuri Raiden._ "

Arcs of lightning leapt from his fingers, travelling down the Bakudo and channelling its force directly into its prisoners. They gave a brief cry before falling unconscious, and Hisagi released them, falling back against the wall, his breath coming in ragged gasps. Something was playing over in his mind—an image so brief he wasn't sure if he'd seen it, or just imagined it.

He limped over to Orihime, glancing down at her hands—both covered in scorch-marks. _I didn't imagine it, then...in the instant before I released my Hado, she grabbed the Horin...taking the brunt of the attack to spare her friends._

 _She's just lucky I'm so weak after all that...she'd have died otherwise._

He raised his sword, forcing strength into his weary arms, preparing to deliver the finishing blow.

"Hold!" Tosen's voice froze his Lieutenant in place. "Enough blood has spilled already."

"Captain—"

"Our objectives are to bring in Rukia Kuchiki, and to eliminate the unauthorised Soul Reaper. These others are no longer an obstacle."

"Yes, Captain Tosen." Hisagi sheathed his blade, turning to join his commander.

"W-Wait!"

Hisagi froze at the sound of Ichigo's voice, before relaxing, his eyes rolling. The boy was practically dead on his feet, his broken sword held between trembling fingers as a sort of focal point for his failing mind. The look of a corned, feral animal raged inside his eyes as he staggered forward.

"Again?" His hand dropped to his hilt. "Captain?"

Tosen gave a slight shake of his head, motioning Hisagi aside and stepping forwards. "I am truly sorry that she put you through all this, child."

Before Ichigo could muster a response, there was a brief flash of movement, followed by the _clink_ of Tosen's blade re-entering its scabbard. Ichigo toppled backwards, blood fountaining from his torso, consciousness truly leaving him this time.

Tosen turned back to Hisagi. "His Soul Chain is severed. He will never possess our powers again."

"He may live, Captain," Hisagi noted.

Tosen nodded. "I hope he does."

"But our orders—"

"I have acted in accordance with them. The unauthorised Soul Reaper has been eliminated." Tosen gestured back at the wounded boy. "That is now a simple human, and the affairs of humans are neither our concern nor our jurisdiction."

"I don't understand you sometimes," Hisagi muttered.

"And that is why I am the Captain, and you are the Lieutenant."

"Whereas I am in your jurisdiction, I suppose," Rukia said quietly. "Captain Tosen, am I to die?" She had spent the last few minutes scared for her friends; she was only now remembering how terrified she was for herself.

"You are to stand trial," Tosen answered, conviction in his voice. "I can condemn you all I like, but the judgement of one man is fallible. The law cannot be fallible." He smiled. "Without due process, where are we?

"In any case, we are done here. Lieutenant...Kuchiki...with me." He paused, on the verge of leaving. "And you, humans...live full, happy lives. And pray that you never hear from us again."

* * *

 _Yes, we're still writing this thing. So...I guess these three chapters have kind of been a bit prologue-y, right? I dunno, when I think of the start of Bleach I think "Uh, some stuff happens...some more stuff happens...and then they go to Soul Society!" And then I realise that "some stuff" is like seven to eight volumes._

 _...where was I going with this? I don't know. We're back. Huzzah._

 _-Captain Space_

 **Q:** On a side note am I the only one that thought most of the lieutenants in bleach were glorified cannon fodder? I mean how many times has Momo shown up only to be sliced up like a holiday ham? Hopefully you continue your tradition of helping the mooks ride to stardom.

 **Space:** I'm...not sure how much I'm allowed to say. So I shall err on the side of caution, and leave you in suspense! HaHAH! *leaps to chandelier, swings out window*

*immediately swings back in to answer next question*

 **Flash:** You're completely right about the glorified cannon fodder. Even Renji, who's a "major" character, won like...1 fight in canon. It's just kind of sad, and part of the reason why Bleach's power scaling is so completely f*cked.

 **Lucif:** I agree with Flash. Something that struck me as very… I guess perplexing and/or irritating was the fact that there wasn't any time in canon where the lieutenants were ever really useful in battle. That's one thing my co-authors intend to fix.

 **Ace:** I can promise that the Lieutenants are going to remain a big deal for Soul Society arc. After that it's going to be a balancing act, how much can we push them to be stronger and how much can we reasonably push them up, whether or not that would help the story, and so on. But keep an eye out, at least a couple of them are _not_ going to fall to the wayside.

 **Q:** Really like having Tatsuki having a larger role in this fic, not really sure about how her powers work though.

 **Space:** That's okay, neither is she. There will be training and stuff.

 **Flash:** Ace said this in the last chapter I think, but basically I wanted her to have lightning powers and so she got lightning powers. We're such deep and intricate storytellers, yes we are.

 **Lucif:** Yeah, what they said. My contributions to this Q&A so far are very top-notch, I know!

 **Ace:** There is going to be a bit more to how her powers work, but as of yet she has yet to develop her abilities. All she can really do right now is cloak a part of her body in electricity to give her blows a little more "oomph." When she knows what she can do with them, you will know what she can do with them.

 **Q:** To go off topic real quickly, FinalFlashX are you ever going to update "The Earthling Chronicles" because I F#CKIN LOVE that story and must find out if Vegeta as A Great Ape will smash Frieza or not lol. Please let me know since I've been waiting for that story for who knows how long lol.

 **Space:** Oh yeah no, he's totally got like fifty chapters of that backed up as a buffer, just waiting to upload. I've read them, it's great.

 **Flash:** If by fifty chapters, you mean about half a dozen outlines detailing what happens throughout the entire story, then yes I did have all those. Until a couple of months ago when they all got deleted. Whoops :/

Since you're a Guest, I'll have to answer semi-seriously. Probably not. 95% sure it's not getting finished. But I suck at sticking to my plans, so for all I know in a couple of months I'll suddenly have to inch to write it again.

To satisfy your immediate burning desire, Great Ape Vegeta does smash Frieza a bit. Then Frieza powers up a bit and proceeds to Curb-Stomp. As DBZ battles are known to go. Highlights of imaginary fight include Frieza stopping a giant monkey arm punch with a single finger, and the battle ending with Frieza violently ripping it Vegeta's tail then proceeding to pummel him with it.

 **Space:** If you want an excuse not to continue it, you can just say their universe was eaten by the Eternal from Even Further Beyond.

 **Flash:** Sure, that's canon now. IT IS WRITTEN!

 **Ace:**...Flash? Last I checked you hadn't even read that far in BTtL. Do you even know what that is? XD

 **Q:** Will Keigo get any powers just like Tatsuki and will Ichigo keep his huge asauchi zanpakuto as a makeshift sealed state for Zangetsu (instead of always having his shikai activated)?

 **Space:** Keigo already has the power to be incredibly forgettable. And probably not, since it was sort of a way of introducing constant release types as a thing. Also, in like 99% of Ichigo's fights in canon he had to use his full power so like...having to go through another step before going Bankai would've made everything take even longer XD

 **Flash:** Who the f*ck is Keigo?

 **Lucif:** You know you've come across a diehard fan when you get someone wanting Keigo to actually do something.

 **Ace:** Spoiler alert, Keigo has actually been Aizen's master all along. Every move that Aizen has, is and shall ever make is only done so according to Keigo's will. It's just that Aizen forgot that he is Keigo's willing pawn. All according to Keigo's plan.

In seriousness, Keigo isn't someone who can easily see as a combatant without seriously distorting his character. His stand against Aizen, as brave as it was, only came about as a desperation move, not as a sign that he's someone who is fighter material.

 **Q:** Having followed your previous story, Cap'n, for quite a while, I had high hopes for Eclipse, especially when I found out it was coming from such a... distinguished (Yeah, let's go with that) group of writers. I have to say... so far, you have failed miserably- at failing miserably. In fact, I'd give this a 9.9999(etc.) out of 10. The only reason it's not a 10 is because of some very minor issues with punctuation (by the way, I'd be honored to proofread it and point out any errors if you're looking for such a person), but other than that it is shaping up to be pretty damn amazing.

Regarding skill-sets, I'm happy to see Tatsuki's abilities keeping her as a close-up fighter. I'm also looking forward to seeing how you'll make their abilities evolve, as they have no Shikai, Bankai, or anything like that. I see, however, that you're going to exclude the Blood War, and that's rather disappointing. After all, given what you did to GT with Even Further Beyond, I was hoping that you'd turn the story into something worth reading. I mean, I personally find the whole concept behind the arc rather interesting, though it was not that well executed... but I suppose I can't really complain or anything.

Anyways, I just wanted to share my opinion, scatter-brained as it is (and I am). So... yeah.

P.S. Lucif, go easy on them. Fifty lashes seems a bit much... After all, it's hard to write well after that. 15 lashes is much more efficient, allowing for maximum punishment while hindering the writers minimally.

P.S.S. Chad. Falcon Punch, in some way shape or form. Get on that.

P.S.S.S. I really hope Hanatarou becomes far more than he is in the manga. He's too often hated on... and the possibility for him to be the Simon to Ganju's Kamina... or something like that. If you get the reference, I mean. Seriously, the mere thought of that kid doing some huge-ass special move is both hilarious and bad-ass at the same time.

 **Flash:** I have to say, I find the idea of Ganju and Kamina being mentioned in the same sentence offensive, much less the idea of comparing the two. That's just straight up blasphemy. Fortunately, Kamina's so damn awesome that he can't be brought down by such foul associations (and the rest of your review was awesome) so I and Kamina forgive you.

Hmm, it's been awhile since I looked at the outline...we have Hanatarou being more important...right? Right? RIGHT!?

 **Space:** Well, if I'm honest, if we get to that point and we think we still have ideas to write a story worth telling, and if after that long we still _want_ to continue it, there's no reason we can't. We just don't have any concrete plans for it.

 **Ace:** DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW HARD IT WAS TO TALK HIM DOWN FROM THE IRON MAIDEN!? We don't wanna push our luck.

 **Flash:** On a serious note, we have actually talked about plans for a sequel (mostly because we're obsessed with Plot Outlining), so if we get to the end of the story and want to keep writing it, we could potentially give fixing that mess called the "Final Arc" of Bleach a go. We'll need all our skill and cunning though…

We're doomed.

 **Lucif:** I proofread this story and… that's about it. So don't go stealing my job now! And as far as a sequel goes, knowing Space's dedication and knowing that Flash is going to become adjusted to writing more, I think you may be able to get your hopes up at least a teensy bit. (But don't bank on the super fantastic amazing editor being the same. I'm not exactly known for finishing what I start..)

 **Ace:** Thank you very much. Tatsuki's power set was rather easy to come up with, because one of the things I do when I create abilities is fit them to the character, rather than the story. And because I was able to build them from the ground up, I was allowed complete creative freedom. (Other than the fact that Flash had to approve, since it was for his story when I came up with her abilities, of course)

 **Q:** I really like how this story is turning out. The writing is great, and it's easy to follow the action-heavy scenes. I also appreciate the focus on the human characters, since I feel like Kubo stopped paying attention to them after the Soul Society arc. I always like stories that involve Tatsuki fighting alongside the main crew, since I think her character has a lot of potential for development that the anime/manga never went into. It's also nice to see Orihime fighting rather than being the damsel in distress. I think it's clear that a lot of work has gone into this story, and I can't wait to see the next chapter.

 **Flash:** Focusing on human characters has kind of been my thing since I started FanFic-ing (Trademarked by the way), so of course we had to do that!

 **Lucif:** We have to represent our own species after all.

 **Ace:** I agree that it's a shame that the human cast was shunted in Bleach. Them being out of focus worked better in the first arc, as that was more about how the supernatural affects the mundane side of things, however when Bleach became a battle shonen they quickly became artifacts. And there are things that can be done with that, either taking them along or showing them being left behind beyond just occasionally acknowledging that they exist. We plan to touch on both sides of this; the former through Tatsuki and the latter through some of the other human characters.

 **Q:** My only complaint would be the lack of a release date, I need more of this fanfic! .

 **Flash:** That's kind of my bad here. We should be a lot more consistent now since I'm getting my act together and work is slowing down a bit.

 **Space:** Oh yeah, it's all him. As anyone who knows me knows, I'm the most organised, punctual person on the planeHAHAHAHAHAAAAA

 **Lucif:** Space is being humble. In the recent past he has been by far the most consistent fanfiction writer here. Any more humbleness from you, Space, and we'll have to teach you a lesson Bleach-style! (Slash to the shoulder, duh.)

 **Ace:** I'd like to say that we're going to be more consistent with our writing and put out chapters more often, but we really can't make any guarantees. We live in different time zones, all have school, as well as our personal lives. When writing happens isn't always in our control sadly.

 **Q:** Yo upload the new chapter already, or I'll be forced to contact Mayuri Kurotsuchi to kidnap all of you and make all of you his "personal" bitches till the next chapter drops BWAHAHAHAHA! You got till July/31/2015 or your new pet names shall be Captain Bitch, Final Bitch XXX, Lucif Bitch, and Ultimate Black Bitch. Get to work... XD

 **Space:** Oh yeah, that threat sure worked.

 **Flash:** I actually read this and decided to hold off another month with Chapter 3. So take that. And that's not even my Porn Star name for your information.

 **Lucif:** … You know, Ultimate Black Bitch actually has a nice ring to it.

 **Ace:** Yes, well, about that. No. No. Lucif. No. End of discussion. No. *Throws Lucif off a cliff*


	4. Chapter 4: Growing Pains

**Chapter 4: Growing Pains**

"Rukia!"

Ichigo jolted up from the floor, immediately regretting it when his muscles quickly reminded him of his recent battle. Wincing, he let out a frustrated growl at the pain as his fingers gingerly grazed over the bandages that covered his entire torso.

"I take it from that little outburst that I don't need to remind you what happened last night," came a trill from across the room.

"Mr. Hat-and-Clogs?" Ichigo said, raising his eyes to meet his mysterious patron. The blonde-haired man leaned against the frame of the room's entrance, his eyes covered by the brim of his hat. A twinge of worry shot up the boy's spine. The shopkeeper wasn't wearing his usual goofy grin.

"I see your memory hasn't improved...well, whatever. If I may be genuine for a moment, I'm just glad you're up so soon. You've had us all very worried for you."

"What happened to those guys? Where'd they go? Why didn't they finish me off? Did they take Rukia—"

The words died on Ichigo's lips as a spasm ravaged his body. Falling back onto the mat, the fiery teen closed his eyes in a futile attempt to push back the pain. His hands curled into fists. An incoherent string of curses overlapped with his ragged breathing.

"Easy," Urahara cautioned. "To answer your questions: After giving you and your friends the beating of a lifetime, they returned to the Soul Society, and yes, Rukia went with them. They made no deliberate move to spare you—you could have bled to death in that alley for all they cared—but as far as they're concerned, you're now beneath their notice." He gestured towards Ichigo. "They severed your Soul Chain, you see. You'll never possess spiritual powers again."

"Wha...What? You're joking, aren't you? Bastard, this ain't a time for jokes! I have to go after them."

Making yet another attempt to get up, Ichigo sat up but found he could go no further. An intense throbbing was emitting from his chest. Putting his sweltering palm against the center of his torso, the young man gingerly pressed against the tender wound. Heat seemed to rise from the scarring cut, and his hand felt as if it had been dumped in a pot of boiling water just being near it.

"It's no joke, I assure you. Your powers have been removed for good." Urahara paused. "Well…" The mischievous gleam finally re-entered his eyes. " _They_ think so."

Ichigo's eyes widened.

"What are you sayin', Mr. Hat-and-Clogs?"

"It's quite simple!" Urahara declared, springing to his feet. "What they took from you were the powers _Rukia_ gave you. _Your_ latent Soul Reaper powers are quite intact, if still dormant. Understand?"

"No," Ichigo said. "But if it means I can fight those bastards again, then I don't care how it works, just that it does."

"And there's the problem." Urahara grew serious again. "'Those bastards' are safely ensconced back in Soul Society."

"That place Rukia told me about, right? Isn't that supposed to be the afterlife or something?"

"Precisely. If you're serious about fighting them and recovering Rukia—and someone has to be—you'll be facing an entire army of people like Hisagi and Tosen." He took a few steps closer. "I assume you remember how outmatched you were."

Ichigo growled. "Don't remind me. Those guys were insane..."

Urahara nodded. "If you want next time to be different, you have a lot of work ahead of you. Training with me is highly—"

"I'll do it."

"Heh...you'll try, that's for sure. What you'll _do_ remains to be seen."

"Don't give me that crap. We don't have time for all that psychological bullshit. It's my fault. I wasn't strong enough and now Rukia's in trouble. I'll get her back. Whatever it takes. Those guys need their asses handed to them and I'm the only one that can serve it to 'em."

Ichigo paused, a scowl forming across his face as his fists clenched in anger.

"To see their smug faces lying in the dirt...to save Rukia...I'll do anything. Bring on your worst. It can't compare to how I feel right now."

An unsettling smile flashed across Urahara's face for a moment. "If you say so."

* * *

"Better!" Tessai, Urahara's head assistant, grunted as he deflected Orihime's latest attack. "You still need more conviction behind it, but you're getting there."

He turned, catching a direct punch from Chad's black-and-red-patterned arm, the impact cracking the ground by his feet. Tessai shoved it back, nodding his approval.

"Well-timed to take advantage of a distraction. You're learning to get around that manoeuvrability weakness."

He easily dodged a second swipe. "Ah, but now I've caught onto you. Directly in front of a more powerful enemy is a dangerous place to be." He placed one palm against Chad's stomach, giving a gentle push that sent his trainee skidding back almost to the wall. "Don't overstay your welcome. And your control still needs work—"

He ducked forwards as Tatsuki all but flew over his head, interrupting him. She spun with the landing, rounding back on him and charging in.

"You've definitely gotten faster…" He retreated slowly, carefully avoiding her charged-up limbs as they swung at him. "But the technique is the same. I'm sure there's more to it; try and vary your attacks more in future." He jumped clean over her as she attacked again, his foot tapping her back as he passed and sending her stumbling forwards.

He dusted off his hands. "I think that's enough for this session. You all know what areas you have to work on—get to it."

* * *

Orihime stared up at the distant ceiling, her gaze slowly falling and tracking idly around the cavernous training area. _Conviction…_

 _I know I need to have more behind my attacks...but does that have to mean trying to hurt someone?_ That was how Soul Reapers fought, at least. She'd seen moments of it from Ichigo and Urahara, too. _I only ever fight because I_ don't _want to see anyone hurt...but I do want to get stronger..._

She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts; this dilemma was giving her a headache. She was probably just hungry, she decided. Something sweet usually helped her figure stuff out. Well, it didn't quite, but it did distract her until she wasn't even thinking about the problem any more, which was good enough.

* * *

 _There's something more…_ Chad stared down at his arm, letting the markings appear and fade every few seconds, trying to make activating and deactivating it more natural.

He wasn't sure what 'something more' was. But there was a strange feeling at the edge of his mind. Like he wasn't using this power properly. It felt like he'd been handed a gun and was clubbing people with it.

He flexed his fingers one more time, letting the pattern play over them as it faded again. Tessai had spoken often about how important proper energy flow was. And he'd said Chad's control still needed work...was that why it didn't quite feel natural yet?

There was time to figure it out. Not as much as he'd like. But enough.

* * *

Tatsuki was having similar thoughts about her own powers; Tessai had said as much. She sat forwards, one hand held up in front of her face, directing tiny bolts of energy to dance between her fingers.

 _...hold on._

Energy. That's what it was, right? Electrical energy. _Regular world has plenty'a uses for that, besides just 'shocking people'._ This should be the same principle, in theory.

She focused the little sparks into an orb, holding it in place above her palm, staring intently at it. _Aright, let's see…_

* * *

When they assembled in front of Tessai the next day, he was silent for quite some time, carefully looking them all up and down, his expression inscrutable.

Finally, he gave a slight nod. "You've taken your experiences to heart, I see. Some of you have taken the first step towards where you'll need to be." He looked back over his shoulder, giving a wave—in response, a black blur shot out from behind a boulder, settling into the form of a cat as it came to a halt.

"Miss Yoruichi," Tessai said, indicating his three students. "They're ready."

"...'Miss'?" Orihime repeated, staring down at the creature. It, no, _she_ , had been coming and going every now and then during their time here, but had never stayed long—not even long enough to get down to questions like what business a cat had being fluent in human speech. But even so, she'd have never guessed that Yoruichi was a woman. Cat. _Cat-lady? Wait, no, that's like, one of those crazy people with a hundred cats in their apartment..._

Yoruichi chuckled, the sound bringing Orihime out of her haze. "You thought I was male, I suppose...well, my voice does sound that way, at least in this form…"

"...'this form'?"

"Never mind that!" The cat darted right up to them, sitting up. "The next stage of your training begins now. I'll be taking over from Tessai."

Tessai sidled backwards, adjusting his glasses. _Go easy on them…_

Tatsuki crouched down in front of their new instructor, resting her arms on her knees. "Okay, sure. So what ancient wisdom are y'gonna impart upon us, O Great Cat Sage?"

"Nothing like that," Yoruichi answered. "Just a simple exercise, to push your reflexes, stamina and teamwork to their limits—and hopefully, beyond them." She took a few steps back. "Catch me."

Chad frowned. "Mmm?"

"If any of you can lay a hand on me, you all pass. It's that simple."

"Careful," Chad warned as Tatsuki started forwards. "She saw us train with Tessai, and she's still confident."

Tatsuki nodded. "Right...must be pretty fast. Still, nothin' else for it."

"Right!" said Orihime. "I'm ready!"

Yoruichi darted back as they moved in on her. "Come."

* * *

Under an hour later, all three of them lay scattered around the training area, panting with exhaustion.

Yoruichi trotted in a small circle between them, occasionally pausing to lick a paw and clean her ear. Eventually she settled down in the centre of the cavern, yawning.

"You're a monster," Tatsuki groaned.

"I warned you," Chad reminded her.

"And you shut it!" Tatsuki sprang up, finding her balance with the aid of a nearby rock and glaring over at their new instructor. "Okay…"

Yoruichi opened one eye, not moving. "Oh? Have we got a plan?"

"I didn't wanna try this so soon after thinking of it...haven't really got it down…" Tatsuki gave a carefree grin. "But hell with it, can't really do any worse than we already are."

"Untested techniques can be dangerous." For a moment, the joviality was gone, and Yoruichi spoke totally seriously for the first time.

Tatsuki paid it no heed, summoning up her power and letting the electric arcs flow around both arms.

"Then let's get dangerous."

The energy intensified for a moment—then sank into her body, spreading out to form a head-to-toe aura, bolts passing in and out of her skin as they flashed and circled.

Yoruichi's other eye opened, her brow furrowing. "What, exactly, are you doing?"

Tatsuki vanished, blurring back into view directly above Yoruichi, who sped out of the way of her downward swing just in time. _Much faster than before...and stronger, too,_ she added, noting the size of the crater the near-miss had left.

Tatsuki hit the ground and skidded around to face Yoruichi. The power flowing through her was exhilarating, like suddenly being twice as alive, everything felt heightened, more _real_. Then it was gone, ripped from her as the energy slipped out of her control, backfiring painfully and bringing her to her knees.

"Well...still working on it," she panted. "Whaddaya think?"

 _Eerily familiar,_ Yoruichi thought. "Well reasoned. Electricity is just a type of energy, and that doesn't just have to be destructive force." She smirked. "But yes. It needs work."

She addressed the group. "Don't get too comfortable just using your powers. Use them _creatively_! Chad: You've got plenty of power, but the way you swing it around, if I dodge all that energy goes to waste. Orihime: Unlike the others, your powers don't have to come from your body-work on fighting from a distance. Tatsuki: You're aiming for the killing shot almost every time. Aggression is a fine thing, but you need to control it. It's more efficient to make a proper opening first."

She turned and strutted away. "Well, have a think about all that. We'll begin again as soon as you've rested."

* * *

"Phew, that crazy bastard wasn't kidding when he said this training was brutal."

Ichigo let his body slide to the dusty ground, letting out an elongated sigh as his limbs went limp. The unguarded hilt of Zangetsu lay loosely in the palm of his hand. The weary teen closed his eyes, resting his head against the rough surface of the boulder behind him. Tired as he was, the rock felt like a velvety, feather pillow.

He shook his head. No, he couldn't let himself drift off to sleep. Mr. Hat-and-Clogs had said that he could take a moment to rest, but he hadn't specified how long. Seeing how their training had been going so far, Ichigo wouldn't be surprised if he popped out of this cliff right now to attack him. Nothing would take him by surprise—not after what he had been through.

The last couple of days had been the most gruelling of his life. Dozens of battles against Hollows these past few months couldn't even begin to compare to the torment that Mr. Hat-and-Clogs' "training" entailed.

After accepting the mysterious shop owner's guidance, all he had to do was sit around. Ichigo had wanted to begin training immediately, but Urahara had refused. His wounds were too severe at the moment, the shopkeep had said. Giving the teen a strange bottle bearing a skull and crossbones on the side, his new mentor told him to take a pill every hour for the next day and then return to the shop after dinner. By then, his injuries should have healed, and they could begin their training.

During the last day of school, Ichigo had barely been able to stay in his seat. It wasn't just normal summer jitters, either, but everything seemed...wrong. The void of Rukia's absence weighed more heavily on him than a thousand tons pressing down on his being. Every time he glanced over his shoulder and saw the empty chair sitting next to him, it was like being sliced up by Hisagi's blade all over again.

Not only that, but everyone had already forgotten about her! No one asked where she was, and no one cared that she was gone. Ichigo snarled just thinking about it. The damn bastards; he didn't care if it was the work of some supernatural force or not, there was no excuse for acting like she had never existed! It made it seem like she didn't matter. Like she hadn't done anything significant or affected their lives in any way. He wouldn't stand for it. She mattered, and he wouldn't let anyone forget that.

After school, the others who had gone with him that night were waiting for him. He could barely raise his eyes to look at them, the sight of their bandaged bodies causing an iron grip to clutch his heart and squeeze until it threatened to burst. They hadn't forgotten about Rukia either, and were itching to get some payback against the Soul Reapers and rescue their friend.

He immediately rejected their help. They had been lucky to escape with their lives last night, and he wouldn't make the same mistake of getting them wrapped up in his mess again. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if something happened to any of them. This was something he would have to do. Alone.

That's right, he was the only one capable of standing up to the Soul Reapers. He was the only one who was able to stand up to the scar-faced bastard alone. Only he could keep up with him and that was before Urahara's training. Ichigo had the potential to grow even stronger, he knew he did! Since he had the power, the responsibility of protecting them fell on his shoulders and his alone. It was his responsibility to get Rukia back, and he couldn't allow anyone else to have to suffer because he couldn't handle it.

He had left his friends without another word. They had called after him, but he just ignored them. Ichigo knew that he was being an ass, but if that's what he had to do to keep them safe, then an ass he would be. There would be time to make it up to them afterwards. For now, he had to focus everything he had on getting stronger. Strong enough so that he'd never have to lay eyes on their beaten and broken bodies again.

The training had been bizarre, yet grueling. The mysterious shopkeeper's strange training methods always stuck Ichigo as silly, yet turned out to be some of the most challenging ordeals he had ever faced. All he had to keep him going throughout the training was his conviction to continue on. In order to gain the strength necessary to protect his friends, he had to be brave and face anything Urahara threw his way.

It was strange, though. During his first battle with Urahara immediately after emerging from the Shattered Shaft, the shopkeeper told him that he could no longer fight with courage alone. Against the opponents he'd face in the Soul Society, he would need more than his conviction to win him the day. However, it was only after abandoning all fear at Zangetsu's urging that finally allowed him to unlock his Shikai and true ability. That must have been what Urahara was referring to. It wasn't that his approach to battle was wrong, it was simply that he was trying to do it alone when he should have been relying on Zangetsu as well. With this power awakened, nothing would be able to stand in his way.

And what power it was. Ichigo couldn't help but feel a smile widening across his face. Zangetsu was amazing! How had he been satisfied with his power before? Thinking back, it was amusing to think of how proud he was of his abilities then. Now, it was laughable to even attempt a comparison. It would be like comparing a majestic lion to a tiny housecat. Never before had he felt as alive as he did when he wielded Zangetsu in his hand. He laid his hand on his Zanpakuto's side and felt his own energy thrumming, resonating down his arm. The power of Shikai was almost like a drug, one that he couldn't get enough of. All he could think about was tapping even deeper into this well of energy he had suddenly discovered inside of himself. No wonder Rukia believed he had no chance of defeating those two. Now he truly understood how weak he had been.

The smile disappeared from the teen's face and a solemn look was cast over him. That's right, those two from that night wielded the same power as this, and according to Urahara, many Soul Reapers were capable of Shikai. Each and every one of the opponents he'd have to defeat would hold this same power in their own hands. He couldn't get complacent now. He would have to keep pushing, have to keep up this current level of intensity if he was going to surpass those two. Because, while they had years of experience on him, there was one thing he had that they didn't.

Reaching into his robe, Ichigo's hand emerged clutching the bony Hollow Mask he had been wearing after conquering the Shattered Shaft. His own eyes bored into the black eye sockets. This is what he possessed. He had gone to hell and back in order to regain his powers. This mask was a reminder of all the suffering he had endured so far, and he'd be damned if he were going to let that all be for nothing. He couldn't lose. It simply wasn't an option. His resolve would be the difference between him and any enemy that dared to stand in his way. He wouldn't stop fighting until his opponent killed him, and even then he wouldn't quit. Hell, he had already come back from the dead once. If he needed to, Ichigo would will himself back again, and again, and again. He'd beat that scar-faced Soul Reaper and even that Captain if he had to. He wouldn't stop until he got back—

"Rukia…"

Smacking the back of his knees, Ichigo hopped to his feet. That was enough sitting around for now. He couldn't just sit around thinking all day or he'd never get any stronger. Returning the mask back into his robes, the determined swordsman swung his massive blade onto his shoulder. He just had to follow Zangetsu's advice. Banish fear from his heart and mind. Then, nothing would be able to stand in his way.

* * *

Time, and effort, had paid off. Yoruichi was still much faster than any of her pursuers, but now she was visibly tired after an extended training session, and they'd come frustratingly close to catching her once or twice, thanks to some clever strategies they'd come up with to use their abilities in tandem. Today felt good, though, like the culmination of everything they'd learned. This time, everything just _clicked_ and came together, as if three lost cogs had finally realised they were part of the same machine.

Chad had been reaching ever deeper into his well of power and his transformed arm had changed its form. Most notably, the shoulder section was more extensive, and acted as a sort of vent for his excess energy. This apparently improved efficiency, for his strikes had become far stronger and less draining on his body. Now, he put all that new strength into an overhead swing, smashing his fist down into the ground and shattering the stone floor in a wide circle around them.

This had the combined effect of making the ground Yoruichi had to bound over more uneven, and filling the air with dust and rubble to obscure her vision.

Keeping her other senses alert, she sprung sideways to escape the dust-cloud-and almost ran straight into a flickering yellow barrier, Orihime standing on the other side, beaming as she saw the tactic had worked. She'd tried to cut off Yoruichi's escape like this a good few times, but this was the first time she'd caught her this off-guard.

Yoruichi scanned the clearing smokescreen for her other two enemies. Sure enough, Chad was rounding on her already... _But where's…_

Tatsuki dropped down from on high, having taken a flying leap a few moments ago, slamming into the ground and barely giving Yoruichi enough time to dodge; a few stray sparks ran down her fur as she avoided the surprise attack by inches.

She began to speed away from Tatsuki, but Chad was blocking half of her possible escape routes—and would be in grabbing distance in a few moments—and Tatsuki charged herself up, speeding around to block the rest before making a dive at Yoruichi.

Yoruichi only had one direction left to flee in; her plan was to use Orihime's shield as a springboard to leap over their heads and get some space. She leapt—

—and the barrier wasn't there anymore. She gave a small cry of surprise, the arc of her jump carrying her directly into Orihime's outstretched arms.

Orihime blinked a couple of times, her mental state somewhat akin to a dog that's been chasing cars for so long it can't remember what it was going to do when it caught one. Then instinct (aided by a miniscule attention span) took over and, on the grounds she was holding something small, fluffy and adorable, she hugged it tightly, making little cutesy noises.

"Orihime…" Yoruichi choked. "Orihime...I can't breathe...put me down...I'll claw your eyes out, I swear... _Orihime_!"

* * *

Once Yoruichi had been separated from her protesting captor, she scampered off to grumble in a quiet corner somewhere.

"Great, you hugged away our training," Tatsuki mumbled.

"Fear not!" came a laughing voice, all too familiar by now; evidently, Urahara had something in store for them. "This is, in fact, _perfect_ timing."

Chad folded his arms, looking over at the grinning shopkeeper. "How?"

Urahara reached back into the doorway he'd emerged from, and dragged a black-robed figure into view. "I have a new training partner for you!"

Ichigo straightened up, blinking a few times before raising a hand in awkward greeting. "Uh...hey."

* * *

Byakuya Kuchiki was angry. Livid even. You wouldn't know from looking at his face, though. As always, his face was a shining example of aristocratic apathy and disinterest. Growing up in one of the Soul Society's Four Noble Houses, he had always been instructed to never allow his emotions to sabotage his objective. No one likes to deal with a hot-headed fool, his grandfather would always say. They were much more likely to acquiesce to your wishes if you beat them into submission with level-headed logic than a fiery temper.

Now, he was on the receiving end of nobility's cold indifference as forty-six apathetic pairs of hidden eyes bore down on the lone Captain. For hours Byakuya had stood before the feet of the council, alone on the small platform in the middle of the arena-like chamber, and reasoned with them to spare his only pride: Rukia.

He had decimated every fallacy in the council's thinking. He had cited every prior case involving a Substitute Soul Reaper since the beginning of the Gotei 13. He had leveraged his house's reach as far as it could extend, attempting to call on every favor owed to the Kuchiki in the last 500 years. He even attempted to play on the wisemen's heartstrings, begging them to consider what they would do if it were a member of their clan who was to be put to death. He had exhausted every argument he could conceive.

Yet...it wasn't enough.

"Central 46 is firm in their original sentence, Captain Kuchiki."

"There will be no pardon for the Shinigami from Squad 13, Rukia Kuchiki."

"Her execution will proceed as scheduled."

"The Traitor will die."

Each of these damning sentiments cut deeper into Byakuya than any Zanpakuto ever could. The solemn noble could feel his legs wishing to crumble, sink to his knees, tear off his robes, and roar with agony. His hand twitched towards Senbonzakura. He possessed the power to slaughter all of these old fools in an instant. He could free Rukia by force. If he struck fast enough with the element of surprise on his side, they could escape together.

The faintest of sighs escaped from Byakuya's pursed lips. A delightful fantasy, but nothing more. The damage that such a revolt would cause in the infrastructure of the Soul Society would be catastrophic. As a Captain of the Gotei 13, as the head of the Noble Kuchiki Clan, and as a honorable, loyal son, he could never put his own personal gain before that of the Soul Society. He could never betray his vow in such a way.

"I urge the council to reconsider."

"We will not. Our decision is final."

"Very well. I acquiesce to Central 46's decree."

Spinning on his heel, Byakuya exited the chamber. With each step, his sandals slapped against the cold, granite floor, echoing throughout the room. Each step like the sounding of a gong signaling Rukia's death-march to the hangman.

As he reached the door, rays of light penetrating into the dark council hall, Byakuya steeled himself. He would obey the laws of the Soul Society and the decrees of Central 46, carrying them out with as much vigour as he possessed. However, once Rukia was executed, and the final flame of Hisana was snuffed out, so too would the light of Kuchiki be extinguished forever.

* * *

The four trainees lay scattered in a ragged circle, exhausted from their latest match. Ichigo was leaning on his sword to stay sitting up, while Orihime lay flat on her back, mumbling another stream-of-consciousness.

"We… won," Chad panted, resting his palm on the ground for support.

"Okay," Ichigo said grouchily, "you guys got me that time. Good work."

"Give me another week, I'll be beatin' you solo," Tatsuki boasted, dragging herself up.

He grinned. "Hah, sure."

High above, Urahara observed with a gleam in his shadowed eyes. _They're ready._

* * *

 **Space-** _Yeah, this story still exists. Did I cancel it? Did I hiatus it? No, no, and a thousand times no!_

 _P.S. I wrote a separate Bleach one-shot in the meantime. It's cool if it's not your cup of tea, but it's got both a Yorusoi 'totally-not-a-date' and a giant monster fight so really I don't know what more you could ask for._

 **Flash-** _Comeback City! For real this time hopefully. Sorry for getting your hopes up last chapter that it was starting up again. Things have been pretty hectic around me these past 6 months, but now things have settled down I can get back to writing this on the weekends! Or on the days. Or just you know, whenever. I think we'll be hitting kind of stride now though, since we're about to take a turn into the Soul Society which, and I think I speak for everyone, is the most interesting and fun part of Bleach. So we'll have a blast writing about it!_

 **Ace-** _And after over half a year, we are back! This may be a set-up and resting chapter, but we hope that it was worth the wait. We don't believe in filler, so despite the lack of big fights there was a fair amount of set up here for both power development and the characters themselves._

 _And, if Space gets to advertise, would it be wrong to mention my own Dragon Ball Super one-shot? It's just a funny Vegeta story post-Golden Frieza. Don't… expect the same level of quality with it as compared to Eclipse, I got little to no input from the others._

 **Lucif-** _I'm just as surprised as you guys that this is being updated. See you in a few years for chapter 5!_

 **Space-** _He's joking about the years! R...Right Lucif…?_

 **Lucif-** _I'd like to think so, although the loyal followers who will be reading chapter 5 when it comes out in 2018 will find this to be quite ironic._

* * *

 **Q:** It feels a tad awkward for everyone to be so casual while Ichigo is in danger and weren't they nominally working as a team before? Sorry. I did love the opening to the scene though, very Tatsuki XD The Rukia scene was fantastic, every little thought felt IC, really capturing her desperation even while keeping a relatively cool head, Tousen and Rukia's dialogue and that final 'she didn't' at the end were excellent.

The final segment was overall awesome, excellently described, fast and powerful with all the motions feeling really thought out. Interesting to see Tousen opting to spare the interlopers and Ichigo but if he hasn't just been BSing with his 'justice' attitudes then its not hard to buy at all. Of course it could also be Aizen's orders. Regardless, I like how sparing Ichigo was intentional on his part. Rukia felt slightly off at the end though, despite Ichigo potentially living I'd have thought she'd show a bit more concern for the others. Regardless Tousen felt quite in character and the scene ended well.

 **Ace:** That would be because we have the K-Team over here. Can't have them panicking over the small details like that.

Tosen is one of the characters who we hope to do a bit more with than in canon. In a few ways, Kubo took the easy way out with him, which is somewhat understandable given the huge number of things going on within that timeframe. The man of justice and peace being actually driven by revenge, rather than having any deeper motivation or inner conflict as to why he works for the main villain. Consider this as more of an expansion on Soul Society Tosen than Fake Karakura Town Tosen.

 **Space:** Yeah, he's the real deal here.

 **Flash:** Yeah, I think Ace hit it on the head. I've always thought that the majority of the characters get infinitely less interesting after the Soul Society arc because Kubo got distracted by his shiny new characters. So what we're going to try and do is take the kernels of interesting characterization that Kubo planted with all the character's, and then expand on them to help each character be more realized and interesting to read about.

 **Ace:** Kernels? Popcorn? I'm hungry…

 **Q:** I am somewhat... wary of some of the phrasing in regards to Ichigo by some of the other characters. Now I will say I hated how he outstripped everyone in canon I have no issue and will in fact applaud everyone else keeping pace or in some cases surpassing him. However, there is a concern of it being done in such a way that perhaps dis the character. As it stands its not too strong of a vibe but it did crop up once or twice and may affect first impressions.

 **Flash:** First off, I'd like to thank you for reading and reviewing! Nice to see you again, sarista! Well, I would say that we'll try and be on the look-out for anytime other character's seem to dislike Ichigo (I think that's what you're saying), because you are right that at this point they don't have much of a reason to dislike him. Except for Uryu, who at that point in time didn't like him. I will say though that it is intentional to portray Ichigo in a more...gray moral area than he was in canon, since I think it will be interesting to explore. Hopefully, you'll agree when you read what we have in store for you!

 **Ace:** To an extent, this is the intent. Ichigo, as we see him, is someone with major personal flaws. He's had some major traumas that he's internalized and they have had a major impact on him here and in canon. We're putting a bit more emphasis on this than Kubo did, but hope to make it more of our analysis on him than an insult to who he is.

 **Space:** This chapter for instance, where he's all _I must do this aloooone_ which is patently not the case.

 **Q:** The Eternal eating universes is why fanfics go unfinished? That explains so much, dang he's been busy.

 **Ace:** Doesn't help that there's more than one of the guy, given how time travel works in Dragonball. THEY'RE VERY HUNGRY, OK!?

 **Space:** ...what have I unleashed? (It'll be fine. I have Samsara on speed-dial.)

 **Q:** Well I shouldn't be surprised that Ichigo and his friends got their ass handed to them by Hisagi. But still, not using shikai and having a gentei kaijo would make you think that Hisagi would fair more poorly to Ichigo than Renji in canon, but I suppose the usage of kido and being a shinigami longer than Renji gave Hisagi enough experience to edge the battle in his favor.

The humans still did pretty good considering the circumstances. Chad and Tatsuki were decent when fighting Hisagi unarmed, but once he reestablished himself with Kazeshini he finished them off fairly easy. Orihime did very little in this battle (cant blame her since she a non-combatant who specializes in support), but Uryu went H.A.M. for brief moments before ultimately getting cut down himself. Ichigo was by far the best fighter the humans had at defeating Hisagi, but being very cocky, non-strategizing, inexperience, and non-caring to his own injuries cost him that fight dearly. If Ichigo had applied more strategy and had a little bit more training and experience, I wouldn't doubt for a second that Ichigo could have whooped Hisagi (long as he didn't activate shikai or released his gentei kaijo).

 **Ace:** You more or less got what we'd hoped from this fight. The point of sending Hisagi and Tosen, especially the former, was to have the opponent who would challenge and be challenged by our protagonist group.

It's important to remember that Renji is actually pretty new to his rank in canon, while Hisagi has been a Lieutenant for longer. In our analysis of where we'd rank everyone (pretty necessary for figuring out how to fix power scaling in my opinion), we agreed that Hisagi comes off more or less one of the most balanced Lieutenants. Strong Kido, good sword skills, a very pragmatic fighter when he gets down to it, etc. He was winning, not solely due to greater power, but due to the results of greater experience. Renji would have been overwhelmed, especially given that his Shikai is ill suited for the large variety of opponents that he would have fought.

 **Flash:** Also, as Ace mentioned, we're hoping to sort of fix the Power Scaling of Bleach. In canon, the Lieutenants were all glorified fodder really, and for me, that's just not interesting. It's much more entertaining, and provides much higher stakes for our heroes, if even the Lieutenants are leagues and leagues above them in terms of strength! Imagine what fighting a Captain will be like! So if you notice the Lieutenants being much more formidable opponents, it's intentional. We want to make it as difficult on our protagonist as we can, so it's more enjoyable for you to read about.

 **Lucif:** As Flash and Ace said, the power scaling in Bleach is majorly flawed, and we intend to fix it. Having Ichigo seem much weaker than Hisagi was intentional, as it is important for us to establish that the lieutenants are lieutenants for a reason, and not just some random meagre fighters that are used to get beat up on over and over again. This will also create a bigger gap between our protagonists and the captains, who were talked up so much in the onset of the arc, but in my opinion were written to be much too weak (relatively) in comparison to Ichigo and company.

 **Q:** There's not really much to say about this right now, because it was clear that plot wasn't your guys main focus while reading this story. There's not a whole lot of changes from canon at this point, the biggest being that Tatsuki also gained powers, and even the seemingly big changes you did include didn't actually affect the plot in any significant way. At least for this chapter anyways, I'm sure that Tatsuki having powers as well and Tosen and Hisagi being the ones coming to get Rukia will change the story of Bleach in some major way further down the road, but for now, the story is in the exact same spot as it was in canon. This isn't a bad thing, but it doesn't really leave me much to talk about during this section, and it might be the weakest aspect of the story so far. Don't get me wrong, it's still solid, but there's nothing mind-blowing that hooked me into reading this story from a plot standpoint in this opening chapter.

Whereas your plot was one of your weakest point (in comparison that is), your characterization was your best. Which was good, since it was clear that while you wanted to focus less on plot in this chapter you shifted all of that into characterization. I won't compliment you on making sure the characters are In-Character, since it's clear that you are talented enough writers to do that, but I don't think that was your aim with a lot of these characters. It seemed more like to me that you're subtlety using the story (for at least this chapter) as a way to offer your own interpretations of the Bleach characters. I really enjoyed reading Ichigo specifically, because if you dug a little deeper beneath the writing and events you placed him in, it almost read as a character analysis of the canon character as well as being it's own presentation of Ichigo as a character. The rest of the characters are all spot-on as well, and I think you guys managed to present them in good ways and helped to show their own unique personalities and quirks to make them nice characters. I can't wait to see where you go with this cast going into the future.

 **Flash:** Thanks! I'm glad that the thing keeping your interest in the story is the cast! For me, I think that the plot of fanfiction can be very exciting of course, but the best thing about it is that you can offer your own interpretations of the characters. Plus, it's the characters of Bleach that brought our audience to our story in the first place, so I think it's best to focus on what the people are here for in the first place!

 **Ace:** Well, the next chapter is where things are planned to really get started. These first four are really meant to be largely set up. So if you're willing to bear with us until chapters 5 and 6, I hope that you'll get what you're waiting for in terms of more original plot.

That's great! We were all (or maybe just me and Flash) hoping that since our plot doesn't really hit its high points until Soul Society arc we'd still be able to get some attention for the other main focus of this story, the characters. I'm glad to hear that you think we've done a good job with that so far.

 **Lucif:** Such an in-depth review is much appreciated! (And for chapter one no less.) The focus has definitely been more towards characterization and plot setup more than anything thus far. With that being said, though, we will definitely be hosting a plethora of major, major plot changes in the future. It just wouldn't make sense to start off our exposition with all these random changes that had no basis behind them, which is why the plot is relatively similar to canon thus far. We want to spin our own version of the tale using the foundation of the intriguing Bleach universe; if we just immediately started fashioning these major changes before establishing the plotline and world, it wouldn't really be Bleach at all.

 **Q:** P.S. That FinalFlash guy is a total asshole, huh?

 **Ace:** Why yes he is, thank you for noticing!

 **Space:** Just the worst.

 **Lucif:** He makes Aizen look like a saint.

 **Flash:** I know right-HEY!

* * *

 **Bonus: The Process**

 _This is just a little section we'll do semi-regularly where you guys get to see random snippets of conversation which happened while writing the story. This chapter's highlights:_

* * *

Space: "By the way, just so you know, if Grimmjow's chest and midriff are ever covered in this story, I'm firing you."

Flash: "That seems fair."

* * *

Space: "Plus, just a little he doesn't really want to hurt Orihime anymore (no-one can resist those puppy-dog eyes! NO-ONE!)"

Ace: "Ulquiorra"

Space: "...damn it."

Flash: "Did you watch canon, Ace?"

* * *

 _See you guys next time!_


	5. Chapter 5: Gatekeeper

**Chapter 5: Gatekeeper**

"What do you mean I have to wait!? I've been waiting!"

Renji Abarai threw his arm back, indicating the six other members of Squad 6 he brought along as a vanguard.

"We've been standing here with our thumbs up our asses for two fucking hours, and I'm tired of it! So why don't you run back inside and fetch somebody that actually has some pull around here!"

The crimson-haired Lieutenant scowled as Squad 9's doorman retreated back into the compound, the color drained from his face. Clenching the hilt of his Zanpakuto, Renji thrust himself back onto his tree stump. His subordinates all exchanged nervous glances as their commanding officer continued to fume.

"I hate all this political game bullshit," he snarled. "Wasting our time because they've got their panties in a wad since Captain Kuchiki went over their heads. It's pissing me off! Right?!"

The six Soul Reapers quickly nodded their agreement underneath their Lieutenants fierce scowl.

"Squad 9...bunch of pansies. Can't ever get anything done with Captain Tosen preaching that pacifism garbage every couple of minutes. Fucking hypocrite."

Renji's men continued nodding.

"I bet this is Hisagi's doing. He's always had it out for me, ever since the Academy. I bet he's pissed he doesn't get to march her right up to the chopping block himself."

Renji's men continued nodding.

"Tsk, bunch of idiots…"

Renji's men continued nodding.

"Arrgh!" Renji growled with frustration, leaping to his feet. "Crying out loud! How hard is it to transfer one prisoner? Just one! It's not like we're asking for the moon here!"

Renji's men kept on nodding for a few seconds, before quickly realizing their mistake and shaking their heads. The tattooed swordsman didn't even notice though as he stomped to the door, hammering his fist against the wooden panels. Opening his mouth to scream again, the fiery Shinigami was caught off-guard when the door actually opened. Mouth agape, he found himself pounding into the chest of Shuhei Hisagi.

"Even for you, this is an unusually violent greeting, Lieutenant Abarai."

Stopping his pounding, Renji snarled as he stepped away from his stoic peer. His onyx eyes glared daggers into Hisagi's as he stepped outside Squad 9's barracks.

"So, Lieutenant Abarai, what has you up in arms and attempting to break down my barracks' door?"

"You know damn well what I'm here for, Shuhei!"

"I'm afraid I don't, Lieutenant. All I've been told is that you've been waiting here for quite some time to speak with either me or Captain Tosen. I'm sorry for your wait. Captain Tosen is attending the Captain's Meeting and I've been attending to some business. I apologize for any inconvenience."

Renji snorted.

"Save your apologies. All I want is my prisoner. The faster, the better."

Hisagi's eyebrows rose.

"Prisoner transfer? I am not aware of new transfer orders with Squad 6."

Renji's eyes began to twitch.

"What did you just say?"

Hisagi's eyebrows furrowed, his expression one of his confusion.

"I said there are no new prisoner transfer orders from Command. For Squad 6, or for any other squad for that matter."

Renji's face began to turn the color of his hair, his upper lip curling with disgust as his men started taking a few steps back.

"I've had just about enough of this," the livid Lieutenant growled, his knuckles going white from gripping his Zanpakuto's hilt so hard. "I've heard a lot of shitty lies in my day, Shuhei, but that has to take the cake."

"Excuse me?" Hisagi said, his eyes narrowing and his mouth forming into a frown.

"Don't give me that crap! You're trying to tell me that you don't have my prisoner in your dungeon when we both know damn well that you do! I've tried to be patient, but after sitting out here for two hours, getting nowhere with your idiotic gatekeepers, and now you lying to my fucking face, I'm done! So you can either stop trying to sell me your load of bullshit and bring me Rukia Kuchiki right now, or I'll-"

"Kuchiki?" Hisagi held up his hands, his expression one of pure bewilderment. "I just finished transferring her to a Squad 6 cell personally. A message was sent over four hours ago stating that we would transport the prisoner to you."

As Renji spluttered and tried to explain himself, one of his men elbowed his neighbor and muttered, "Told you it'd be worth it. And look at that, two hours."

"Just… shut up."

"Another half hour and you would've won!"

"Shut up!" the other Soul Reaper whispered harshly.

"Guess drinks are on you tonight!"

"Why me?" he groaned.

* * *

The first light of day streaked across the gray sky as Ichigo arrived at Urahara's Shop. It always made him chuckle a bit seeing the tiny shack that housed a massive underground cavern.

His face quickly grew stern. Today was not one for jokes. Today was the day that they set off to save Rukia, and he would have to be as sharp as Zangetsu if he was going to succeed. He couldn't let anything get the better of him.

"Morning," said a tired voice, inches above his head.

For a few seconds, Ichigo could only blink. Finally, he raised his gaze to see a black paw lazily flicking at his bangs.

"Yoruichi!" he yelled, ineffectively trying to shake her off.

"Truly, the fruits of your training astound me," she yawned, sliding down off of him and hopping up to a nearby wall.

So much for not letting anything get the better of him. Ichigo sighed. Okay, he was just tired from waking up so early. Now he'd get into the zone.

Almost as soon as the thought had sprung into his mind, Ichigo walked into the stone wall known as Chad.

"Are you alright, Ichigo?" the giant asked as Ichigo rubbed his forehead.

"Yeah, I'm fine. You know, for such a big guy, you move awful quiet."

Chad shrugged as he stared at Ichigo, almost if he had more to say. Ichigo leaned in slightly, curious to hear the secret to his friend's ninja-like skills.

Chad leaned against the wall, looking up at the sunrise.

Ichigo almost burst a blood vessel.

Before he could press Chad for clarification, a well of spiritual power sprung up to his right, his body tensing up in instant response.

"Think fast!"

Hearing the shout, Ichigo swung around, barely bringing up both forearms in time to block Tatsuki's incoming foot, the impact driving him back almost into the shop.

He lowered his arms, wincing. "Hey, what the hell?"

"Just testing ya." She grinned. "You better be in top condition today."

He hung his head, mumbling into his robe. "Is everyone gonna surprise me today, or what…"

Right on cue, Orihime came running in, tackle-hugging both him and Tatsuki. "Guyyyys! I've missed you!"

Ichigo sighed, just giving up on being prepared or focused until after everyone got there.

"It's been...like three days," Tatsuki grunted, fending her off. "And we've been going to school together."

"Yeah, but, y'know…" She indicated their fighting outfits. "The 'other' you. The cool you."

"...I'm cool?" Ichigo asked, pointing a finger up at himself.

"No," Tatsuki said immediately.

"Well…Mr. Ishida is pretty cool, at least," Orihime said, pointing up at the roof of the house across the street.

Unfortunately for him, Orihime was the only one who'd been looking the right way in time to see him looking cool, arms folded, cape billowing dramatically in the wind. By the time the others followed where she was pointing, said cape had caught in a rooftop antenna and he was grumbling to himself, trying to tug it free with both hands, all composure lost.

"Yeah, real cool, Ishida," Ichigo snickered.

"Like you're-rrg-one to talk- _damn it_ -Kurosaki. I saw that whole display just- _aha!_ "

He finally pulled the offending garment free, jumping down to the street to join them.

A cough came from the door. "If you're all _quite_ finished with your preschool antics?"

Ichigo almost snorted with laughter. "Like you're one to talk, Hat-and-Clogs."

Kisuke lifted his hat for a moment, scratching his head. "You know they have these things called names now?" After sighing in mock-dejection at his assigned nickname, he straightened up, beckoning them inside.

"Well, let's get a move on, shall we. Miss Kuchiki won't rescue herself."

The mood of the team turned serious, the six of them gathering closer together. A wave of acknowledgment passed through them. The time for fun and games was over. Their friend needed saving, and they were the only ones for the job.

Ichigo looked over at his friends, their resolve strengthening his own. They may not be the most experienced or powerful strike team ever assembled, but there was one thing that they had in spades: Determination. They were going to save Rukia, there was no doubt in his mind. He knew that everyone here wouldn't stop fighting until they had accomplished their goal, and he took comfort in that.

"Alright, Mr. Hat-and-Clogs, we're ready," he said with a smirk. "Let's invade the Soul Society."

* * *

Renji scowled, slightly adjusting his legs to make sitting in such a god-awful chair slightly more bearable. Scratching his tattooed chest and tugging on his itchy sleeping kimono, his gaze drifted back into the dark cell. The patch of white amongst the pitch black was still turned away from him. With a click of his tongue, the fiery Soul Reaper returned to fidgeting with his chair.

"Squad 12 can make living bodies for us, but can't make a decent chair. Bunch of useless eggheads."

"If you're so uncomfortable, you should go to bed, Renji."

Scowl turning to smirk, Renji shot out of his seat and to the bars of the cell. Leaning his forearm against the cool metal, he responded.

"So, you can talk! I was worried something had happened in the Living World and your tongue had gotten ripped out or something."

Rukia winced. The red-haired Lieutenant cursed under his breath.

"Sorry, bad joke."

A blanket of silence covered the two Shinigami as Rukia remained still and Renji fidgeted nervously at the bars. His fingers gently tapping against the metal, his gaze darted back and forth between the solemn prisoner and the floor. A gloomy expression passed over the Lieutenant's face before a goofy grin quickly replaced it.

"Heh, this reminds me of back when we were brats running around that shithole. You were mad at me because-haha-because I was practicing with this shitty, old knife and I accidentally cut off a chunk of your hair. You wouldn't talk to me for days. Like some mangy mutt, I just followed you around, pestering. I still remember how hoarse I got, constantly asking you to not be mad at me anymore. Then, heh, you finally told me that you weren't even mad about your hair. You just wanted to use the knife first."

A stifled laugh came from the cell, a single snort of amusement followed by choked-up repression as her hand pressed against her mouth. Looking up, Renji looked at the arched back of his friend, her shoulders now shaking. His face wore a smile, but there was no glee to be found in it as he watched droplets of tears cascade onto the floor.

"Remember that time you raided that cranky, old Kurosawa's stall? The rest of us were all so scared. He was a nasty one. No one would go near that place. Except you. You were determined to get those rice dumplings-they were the best in the whole district-so you came up with this whole, complicated plan and managed to swipe, like, a dozen of 'em. That night, we had the biggest feast I can remember."

Renji paused. His eyes drifted down to his feet as his hands gripped around the bars.

"That's just you, though. Once something gets inside that head of yours, there's no stopping it."

His knuckles whitened. Pressing his forehead against the bars, Renji gnashed his teeth together. A soft rattling sound began to echo in the dungeon.

"Why? Why, Rukia? Why is this happening?"

Renji's eyes continued to bore holes in the floor, no reply forthcoming from the cell.

"I'm sorry. I got your hopes up earlier. I thought the Captain would be able to do...something. How can this be happening? You don't deserve to be executed!"

Rukia gave a jolted start as her oldest friend slammed his fist against her cage.

"It's not fair! You don't deserve this! You've never done a damn thing wrong your whole life!"

Clasping the prison bars with both hands, Renji pressed his face against them, looking directly towards his friend as he issued his desperate plea.

"We can fight this! Me and the Captain! We'll be at Central everyday until they reverse their decision. If we push hard enough, they'll have to see reason! I'll work day and night until you're free Rukia, I promise! Even if I have to-"

"Renji…"

The heated Shinigami's words died on his lips as the soothing, sorrowful voice of his childhood friend floated through the room. Lifting his head, Renji was gifted his first glimpse of Rukia's face since she had learned of her sentence as she turned to face him. Her eyes were bloodshot and tears streamed down her aggravated cheeks. Looking at her now, the Lieutenant could feel his heart shattering into a million shards seeing his strong-willed friend so broken.

"Renji, just...leave. You have to leave me, Renji."

The words struck him like blows from a hammer.

"I'll bring you nothing but trouble. There's nothing to be done. My fate's sealed. I'm going to be executed, and there's nothing anyone can or will do it about it. Least of all my brother. He'll probably be the one dropping the axe."

Renji's body slumped against Rukia's cage, her damning words robbing him of strength.

"You're better off just getting as far away from me as you can. Before I drag you down with me."

For a moment, silence hung over the two. Shell-shocked, Renji stood still as a statue, while Rukia shifted her body to face the wall once more and cast her gaze to the floor, ashamed by her moment of weakness. Her tiny hands wiped across her face. The red-haired Soul Reaper looked up at her. Left in her cell, forced to deal with her impending death alone. Not one person to share in her grief with. Not even her damn brother!

Renji scowled.

Darting across the room, he grabbed his chair. Rukia jolted up in surprise as the screeching sound of Renji dragging it across the room shattered the silence. Finally, the grating noise stopped as he pressed it right up against the bars. Plopping himself onto the seat, Renji crossed his arms as his back leaned against the cell, allowing Rukia privacy in her vulnerable state.

"Idiot."

As Renji's simple statement echoed throughout the dungeon, Rukia allowed herself a small smile for the first time in weeks. Turning back to face the single window of her cell, Rukia looked out at the gleaming stars before whispering.

"Thank you...Renji."

* * *

Ichigo blinked, dazed and confused from so narrowly escaping from the Sweeper train. It had been so dark inside that tunnel, but now everything was incredibly bright. Looking around to gain his bearings, Ichigo's face turned pale and his jaw dropped. He was almost 50 feet up in the air!

A chorus of screams echoed around him. As gravity began to take effect, Ichigo shot worried glances at his friends. Orihime was screaming her head off, desperately clutching onto Tatsuki, who herself was pale from fright. Uryu's stunned expression was almost comical, as he held tightly onto his glasses to make sure they didn't fall from his face. Chad was fine, taking on this sudden surprise with bored acceptance. Yoruichi was firmly attached to the giant's shoulder.

Ichigo took one look at the ground as the group fell towards it, before looking back up to the sky.

"This is going to suck."

The gang from Karakura Town crashed through the roof of dingy shack, completely demolishing the building in the process. Clouds of debris covered the area as the local inhabitants scattered from the sudden explosion. As the dust settled, groans began to emit from the rubble. Slowly, each of the gang pushed themselves out of the wreckage.

"Beats Dad's ambushes in the morning," Ichigo murmured, standing to his feet and dusting off his black Shinigami robe. "How's everyone holding up?"

"Ooooooow!" Orihime whined, sitting among the rubble, blowing strands of hair out of her face. "I have dirt _everywhere_! This isn't even funny!"

Uryu stood without comment, craning his neck around to look behind him and running a hand over his hand-stitched cape, his impassive face hiding his desperation to ensure it wasn't ripped.

Chad simply rose from the rubble, chunks of rock and wood just sliding off his muscular body. They didn't have to worry about the big guy much, Ichigo reflected as they shared a slight nod. He could pretty much take anything thrown at him.

A rising fist split a slab of rock from beneath, Tatsuki emerging and clambering out of the pile, grumbling to herself in alternating parodies of Urahara's and Orihime's voices. " _By the way, kids, when you arrive you'll be halfway into the freakin' sky._ Oh, thanks, Mr. Urahara, sir! That sure will be helpful in not getting caught by surprise and landing on our asses! _You're welcome! Have a safe trip!"_

"Calm down, Tatsuki," Yoruichi told her. "No-one's been hurt." She had leapt off Chad's shoulder at the last second, and miraculously emerged unfazed from the high-speed impact. Idly licking a paw, she added, "But, that was quite the entrance. We should get going."

"No time like the present for a good, old-fashioned invasion," Ichigo said, a small smirk spreading across his face.

"Invasion?" Orihime repeated, looking nervous. "I liked the sound of 'rescue mission' better…"

"One must follow the other," Uryu sighed, dusting himself down.

"Right." Tatsuki waved a finger in Orihime's direction as she spoke, as if giving a lecture. "Can't make an omelette without breaking a few heads."

" _Anyway!_ " Yoruichi was already sounding a little tired of dealing with this...singular group. She set off at a rapid trot, heading out of the building. "There's no time to waste; follow me."

Making their way through the feudal-period village, Ichigo couldn't help but remember how Rukia had first described the Soul Society to him. It was supposed to be some sort of paradise. Heaven, where you didn't have to worry about any of the troubles of the Living World and were reunited with your lost loved ones.

Well, he didn't know about the loved ones part, but Ichigo could tell this was no paradise. It was closer to a slum than dazzling mansions and golden streets. The few inhabitants he did manage to spot out of the corner of his eye were scrambling to hide behind yet more run-down buildings. They even looked like they were dressed in rags. How was this any better than being a ghost?

It didn't really surprise him, though. Of course the people that executed one of their own for doing their job wouldn't exactly be the best rulers in the universe. He just didn't get it. Why was Rukia so loyal to these people?

He shook his head. There was no time to worry about anything like that. He was here to save Rukia, not to ponder the 'living' conditions of the afterlife. If he and his friends had any chance of success, he would have to stay sharp. Even the smallest of distractions could be enough for the enemy to get the drop on them, and then, someone could end up hurt or worse: Dead. He couldn't let that happen. He wouldn't let that happen.

"Hey." Tatsuki gave him a gentle knock to the shoulder. "Look lively. We're here to fix things."

"Right," he replied, still despondent.

"Moping won't solve anything. Though," she added with a slight smile, "I won't lie and say it isn't like you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he protested, but playfully, getting the joke.

"Behold the brooding loner!" She said in over-dramatic tones, making a sweeping gesture towards him. "This is MY path, that I must walk alone, lonely, lonesome! Raar."

"I'm not _that_ bad," he said, some of the humour leaving his voice.

"No, you're not, which is what makes it a joke. C'mon dude, you wouldn't have friends if it was like that."

He gave a half-hearted grin, attempting a comeback. "I could've had proper friends, but instead I got stuck with you."

"We're here," Yoruichi cut in.

Both Ichigo and Tatsuki looked up to see...nothing. There wasn't any grand entrance or giant wall blocking their path. The buildings before them were a lot nicer than the streets behind them, but other than that, it seemed like they could just waltz right into the Seireitei.

"Not exactly the most secure fort," Ichigo said. "More like an invitation than trying to keep people out."

"Wait, Ichigo!" Their feline companion shouted-too late, as the brash youth swaggered on towards the citadel. Before he could even take two steps, there came a rumbling from on high. Appearing out of thin air high above them, dozens of enormous slabs of stone sliced down through the air, slamming into the ground and forming a towering wall around the Seireitei.

Chad sat up amidst the dust and smoke the impact had thrown up, one arm wrapped around Orihime, who he'd dragged out of the way of the falling death (she still seemed dazed). He looked around to check that the others were all right: Ichigo, who'd been furthest forward, had also come close to being crushed, and was dusting himself off and grumbling; while Tatsuki and Uryu had made cleaner escapes. It took Uryu a moment to realise that Yoruichi was perching on his head after her own leap to safety-giving an undignified squawk, he swiped up at her, but she pounced nimbly away before he could catch her.

"It's been so long," said a low, deep voice as the dust began to settle, "since we've had an intruder."

Looking towards the source of the noise, the gang started to make someone out as full visibility returned-a truly gigantic man, his size making even Chad seem like nothing more than a rag-doll-staring down at them. He wore an expression of glee as he removed a gargantuan axe from his back.

"Who dares to approach the Seireitei with such audacity and disrespect?" The giant bellowed, his mighty axe resting atop his broad shoulder. "Did you think if would be so easy, to simply stroll into the Seireitei? Such impetuous actions will be punished by me, Jidanbo! It's such a pain to deal with unruly barbarians who know nothing. Though I admit, I will enjoy the pleasure of breaking your puny bodies!"

"Like hell you will," Ichigo sneered, reaching for the hilt of his wrapped blade. However, as he began to draw it, a strong grip clamped down on his shoulder. Turning around, he was surprised to find Chad standing there.

The strongman shook his head.

"Save your strength...for when it's needed. I'll go."

Without another word, Chad strode past Ichigo, who turned to the rest of his companions in shock. None of them seemed surprised in the slightest by their friend's intent to challenge the gatekeeper.

Ichigo whipped his head around to Chad's back. As he walked towards his opponent, Chad's right arm shifted into its combat form. A glare reflected off it's sleek red-and-black surface and a pillow of steam emitted from his shoulder as the silent teen stared down the giant without a hint of doubt.

"Wait, Chad! Don't you want anyone to help? Shouldn't you guys work as a team?"

"No."

Ichigo growled. He liked Chad, but his way with words, or lack thereof could drive him insane at times. Looking for support from the rest of the group, he rounded on them.

"Are you guys going to just stand there? None of you are going to help?"

Tatsuki sighed, rubbing her head. "I guess you're right, some help might be needed to make this a fair fight…" She grinned. "Otherwise, that giant doesn't stand a chance."

Jidanbo cocked a stupid grin at the solemn teenager that stood before him. This one may be big to a normal person, but to a giant like Jidanbo he was as tiny as an ant. An ant that he would have no trouble squashing!

"Ha-ha-ha," Jidanbo roared, his giant frame shaking. "I need no help with someone so puny! You should all simply thank me for having the courtesy to allow you the time to select who you wish to fall first by my hand. Come on, little man, let us see what you are truly made of!"

Chad cast his eyes upward, looking at the gatekeeper through his messy bangs. Not even bothering to lift his head up, he continued to stand as still as a statue. He wasn't going to give away an inch until his opponent made the first move.

A frown cast itself over the gatekeeper's face, before quickly turning back into a smirk.

"So, you're a coward! You're so terrified that you can't even move! I don't blame you! Most who approach the gate flee in fear when I appear! But if you insist on simply standing there, Jidanbo will finish you quickly!"

Grunting, and with surprising agility, Jidanbo brought his axe back before striking out at Chad. The dust that had just settled from the wall crashing down was kicked back up again by the force of his blow. A harsh tune echoed through the streets of the slum as the axehead whistled through the air.

Clouds of debris masked the young fighter as the gatekeeper's weapon hit with a resounding clang. Jidanbo's smirk broke into a wide smile. A direct hit! The puny human had no chance of survival after a clean blow from his mighty axe! It was the mortal's own fault though. To believe he had even a prayer of standing against the raw strength and power of Jidanbo!

However, when the giant attempted to draw back his axe from his fallen foe, he was met with unexpected resistance. No matter how hard he tried to retrieve his weapon, it would not return to him. As the dust settled, Jidanbo's eyes widened as the source of his trouble was revealed.

Standing unharmed and rooted to the spot was Chad, his hand gripping the axe like a vice. For all of Jidanbo's efforts, Chad's arm didn't even seem to be the least bit strained.

"What!?" Jidanbo exclaimed. "How could you have possibly survived a direct strike from my axe!?"

Chad simply shrugged.

"Maybe it isn't as strong as you think."

A vein threatened to pop on the giant's forehead.

"Why you insolent, little...You uncultured swine… You will pay! Did you really believe that I, Jidanbo: Guardian of the White Road Gate, would only have one trick up my sleeve? No, oh no. Now you shall see the extent of my true power, as I reveal my surprise technique! My-AAHH!"

Jidanbo was quite literally thrown off-balance as Chad quickly twisted his hand, sending the gatekeeper's weapon flying off to the side. With surprising swiftness, Chad charged forward. His shoulder began to spout blue fire, building up energy like a forge melting steel.

Once he was inside the reeling giant's guard, Chad used his forward momentum and leapt into the air. Upon reaching Jidanbo's torso, he cocked back his fist, pale blue energy rocketing from his arm and powering his attack forward. His satanic gauntlet rammed into the guardian's sternum with a resounding boom. Jidanbo's face contorted into one of shock and agony as he felt his ribs snap like twigs underneath the immense force being smashed against them.

While Chad returned to the ground after delivering his giant-toppling punch, the giant himself was not so lucky. Jidanbo was sent flying backwards like a rocket-his trajectory sent him crashing into the gate, yet even his great mass seemed unable to move it. It barely even shook as he slumped to the ground, barely conscious.

Tatsuki whistled. "Huh, thought he'd go right through. What's that thing made of?"

"Sekkiseki stone, a rare mineral that can only be found in Soul Society," Yoruichi explained. "It's nearly indestructible to spiritual power, any kind of Reiatsu ability won't even scratch it. The Sereitei's walls are made entirely of it-one of the reasons why the city's defenses are called nearly impenetrable."

"So if we can't go through, we'll just go over, right? It's not that hard." Ichigo rolled his eyes.

"That won't work either. Sekkiseki works by emitting a unique frequency that nullifies spiritual abilities. With a high enough concentration, even the strongest Soul Reapers become powerless, no different from any other soul."

Uryu narrowed his eyes. "Then I assume that you have an alternate method of entry. Otherwise this was an utter waste of our time."

"Ooh ooh ooh, did Mr. Urahara give you some kind of gadget to get us in? Like a special drill or a giant robot or a giant robot _with_ a drill or-"

"Nothing like that, I'm afraid," Yoruichi interrupted Orihime with a chuckle. "I was hoping to use the gate as a first attempt. Kisuke and I picked this one because Jidanbo is supposed to be one of the more honorable gatekeepers. Upon defeat he could have opened the gate for us, since his strength is entirely from his size and muscles rather than any spiritual abilities. But as things are now, I suppose we'll have to get help from an old friend of mine."

"And the reason why we didn't go to this friend of yours first is?" inquired the bespectacled Quincy.

"Kukaku is a woman of many talents...subtlety isn't one of them. Had we been able to access the gate, we would have had the element of surprise. Regardless, we should get going. Her house is quite a ways away."

"There is no need for that," Jidanbo grumbled as he rose to his feet, clutching his chest. "As you said, I am a man of honor, I shall let you through the gate." The giant turned his back to the group and bent down to grasp the bottom of the door. As he slowly lifted the heavy barrier, the teenagers were granted their first look into Sereitei.

It was a city far removed from the slums of Rukongai. The buildings they could see were clean and arranged neatly, as opposed to the squalor and disorder of the run-down shacks they had passed by prior. Far more distressing than the large contrast between the two sections of the afterlife was the man sauntering down the street towards them.

He was thin, with an odd slight lean to his gait, wearing the white-over-black robes of a Shinigami Captain. And he was smiling so hard it scrunched up his whole face into a squint. It was a unique smile, absolutely devoid of friendliness or welcoming. It gave the definite impression that he was going to enjoy himself very much and you were not.

Chad stepped forward protectively, his arm once more shifting into its combat form. The man however barely glanced at him before scanning over the rest of the group. Yoruichi tensed up, evidently concerned by this occurrence, as Ichigo reached for Zangetsu.

"Oh, this isn't good," he drawled, slowly pulling a short, almost dagger-length sword out of his robe. At the gesture Tatsuki moved to stand in front of her daintier friend as her body started to emit sparks while Uryu formed his bow. In spite of the teenagers' apparent aggression, the Captain held his blade delicately, but made no move to unsheathe it. "The gate's open, why'd ya have to do something like that?"

"Captain Ichimaru," Jidanbo stuttered as he broke out in a cold sweat, his arms trembling under the weight of his burden. Upon hearing his name, the Captain looked at the gatekeeper and his grin widened ever so slightly. "These people defeated me, so as gatekeeper I-"

The giant choked, his explanation dying on his tongue. Jidanbo instinctively clutched at his throat, allowing the gate he was meant to protect to land on the back of his neck and drive him to his knees.

Orihime whimpered as she stared at the struggling guardian.

Uryu's eyes honed in on the sword, his face paling.

Chad tensed up, not moving from his protective stance but shifted his body so that his transformed limb covered more of his body.

"How the hell did he…?" Ichigo muttered, staring at Ichimaru's feet. He hadn't made a move, but he had to have done _something_ , otherwise Jidanbo wouldn't be struggling to breathe.

"It's no good if the gatekeeper _opens_ the gates," the grinning man chided as Jidanbo labored to remain upright, moving one arm to once more support the heavy frame. "They're supposed to keep 'em shut."

"I lost," Jidanbo managed to rasp in his defense. "I am duty-bound to open the gate for those who have defeated me."

"Nope! A gatekeeper's duty is anything but to open the gate. A gatekeeper's duty is to _die_ to keep the gate shut."

Before she could decide whether to try and make a move against this eerie Captain, Tatsuki noticed something; Yoruichi's calm demeanour had vanished. She was staring over at the lean, white-haired man, her eyes wide, fur bristling all over.

"Um...Yoruichi?" Tatsuki whispered. "Is this guy…"

"Gin Ichimaru," their guide hissed, claws flexing involuntarily, cutting into the stone path beneath her. "This is...very bad."

Her head snapped towards Uryu as he charged forward at an angle, snapping off several shots towards the Captain. Each arrow was aimed to incapacitate, if not kill, yet Gin weaved through them effortlessly. As he did so, he dragged his blade out of its sheath, evidently savoring the motion. His slow movements left an opening for the rest of the teenagers to run past the gate with Tatsuki dragging Orihime behind her, the latter still staring at Jidanbo in shock.

"Idiots!" Yoruichi spat, running forward as well. "They don't know who they're trying to fight!"

Gin briefly scanned his adversaries once more before taking a stance to lunge at the two girls. Tatsuki managed to push her friend to the side in the same moment that a silver flash erupted from the Captain. It was as if a bolt of lightning had been condensed into a single line, just barely sliding past the martial artist's face. The light lightly touched Jidanbo's neck before it vanished as quickly as it came, but it didn't need to do more. The gatekeeper's artery was severed, releasing a torrent of blood.

Tatsuki couldn't help but start at the sight, feeling her heart rocketing in her chest. She had felt something brush against her nose for an instant, with her skin tingling in the spot. How close had she just come to death!? "Damn it-"

"YOU BASTARD!" Ichigo roared, leaping forward and taking a wild swing at Gin who still had yet to move from offensive stance. The Captain once more evaded effortlessly, taking a leap to the side, as Ichigo sprinted forward once more.

"Kurosaki, you idiot! Don't charge in, his Zampakuto can-" Uryu practically screamed, his voice tearing itself from his throat.

Gin stood unruffled as his grin grew even wider, turning his head to look at the Quincy. "You're a smart one, aren'tcha?" He lazily tilted his wrist to point his sword at Ichigo, who scrambled to get out of the line of fire. For a split second, Ichigo could have sworn that he saw Gin's eyes open, revealing a blue that chilled him to the core.

" _Shoot to kill, Shinso."_

Lighting up with a white glow, the blade extended, growing longer, longer and longer still! Wreathed in light, Shinso flashed past within a hair of Ichigo's skull and covered the entire distance between Gin and Chad in an instant, closing in towards his forehead with insane speed. His eyes didn't even had the opportunity to widen in shock.

Simultaneously, there was a second flash from behind and a noise like a grenade going off. Chad flinched backwards as the tip of Gin's zanpakuto suddenly appeared about a millimetre from his head, having been stopped short by something. It was difficult to see what, as clouds of white smoke rolled out from where the second noise had originated, temporarily obscuring everything.

A lot of possibilities ran through his mind in those few seconds before the smoke cleared. Gin's blade having been grabbed and brought to a halt by a tall, dark-skinned, naked woman he'd never met before was not one of them, but the truth is often stranger than fiction.

"Now _there's_ a surprise," Gin said, retracting his sword. "I came out here to see off some rude kids, but we're in rare company today. You're looking well, Yoruichi Shihoin." The gate slammed shut with a resounding boom and a sickeningly wet snap.

* * *

Author's Notes:

 **Ace** \- _So, remember what Lucif said about this taking a few years? Yeah, he lied. Worry not, fair citizens, we shall punish him accordingly. If anyone's disappointed by the lack of more intense action, I'd say that we're ready to really get into the bigger fights now. Soul Society Arc has officially begun!_

 **Space** \- _So you mean we can finally stop the thing where every chapter we're like 'only a little longer to Soul Society, only a little longer to Soul Society'? Huzzah!_

 **Lucif-** _I hope everyone enjoys this chapter! Surprisingly it's not 2018 as of now, meaning we actually updated on time. And that's a good thing, too, because I was *this* close to hitting my compatriots with some lashes for taking so long. You live to see another day, co-writers! In any case, we're getting into the good stuff, so enjoy the ride and keep reading!_

 **Q:** while i would love to read on the author's discussions and other shenanigans, i was kinda disappointed when i found out that around three-fourth's of the chapter was just that, discussion and not actual story. i know some authors have an lj account where they post their lengthy story ramblings and allow readers to comment and have discussions... perhaps that would be better?

 **Ace:** Three-fourths was discussion and not story? I think it was the other way around really. That said, while your concern is noted, I don't think that a livejournal is particularly necessary since we like to respond to everything in one go.

 **Space:** Basically, the story is gonna be the same length no matter whether we include these rambles or not, right? They're not making the story any shorter.

 **Lucif:** We all like to communicate with the readers, and it's just easier to do it in the chapter. And as Space said, the story length doesn't change. You can always just skip the A/N if you wish. Or keep on reading! Maybe you'll find yourself enjoying our petty attempts at humor.

 **Q:** why are scenes skimmed over? Also, are Bleach Filler and/or Movies implemented? Never mind that, are they suggested?

 **Ace:** Some scenes are skimmed over to avoid complete rehashing of canon. Effectively, if a canon scene has been rewritten, it's so that we can implement some changes.

 **Space:** Dunno about filler, movies probably won't be included though. Probably. Probably. And yeah, scenes that are gonna be just the same as canon, no sense just writing those out. For one thing, that's Tite Kubo's work, not ours, heheh.

 **Flash:** We don't want to bore you with stuff you already know and have seen. The great thing about FanFiction is that we know our audience pretty well, so we know that anyone reading our story has 99% read/watched Bleach. So you already know some things, so we don't want to waste your time with stuff you already know.

 **Lucif:** Scenes are skipped/skimmed over if they are pointless for our story. If they don't contribute to character or plot development or if they are merely identical to canon, why implement them? That requires a helluva lot more effort for something so futile.

 **Q:** Amazing. I do have a suggestion though, if you're willing to hear. I frustrates me to no end when it takes forever for a story to update and when it does, I can't recall what happened in the last chapter. I'm not saying 'update soon', because that would be slightly hypocritical and every author moves at their own pace, but do consider the consequences of not updating for a while, okay? I doubt I have to worry about forgetting this fic (it's too damn awesome for that) but others might and will, so try to keep the "WTF-is-going-on-I-totally-forgot" moments to a minimum.

 **Space:** We're fully aware of the issues created by slow updates, but there's really nothing to be done about it. Corralling together four authors from two separate continents to work on this between all their other projects, education, jobs, stories, etc. etc. is never gonna be quick or easy. Sorry, we'll keep it up with as good a pace as we can manage!

 **Ace** : That said, if other people have complaints about not remembering what happened in the previous chapter, say so! It's really no hassle at all to include a brief summary of the previous chapter's important events if there's a need for it.

 **Space:** But that will create more extraneous material that the other review disliked! We're trapped between two states of things reviewers are unhappy with! It's Schrodinger's Fanfic!

 **Ace:** Space… I really think you should actually learn what Schrodinger actually did. He put a cat. In a box. And said that it was both dead and alive. It's not complicated. Also, I'd like to rename Schrodinger's Cat into Schrodinger's Ichigo all things considered.

 **Space:** That's a weird thing to do to a cat. He sounds like a deeply disturbed man.

 **Flash:** We'll try and do our best to update sooner.

 **Lucif:** You haven't experienced true pain until you've tried to update a fairly long chapter with contributions from four writers, all in college, all with social lives (surprising, I know), all with extracurricular activities and so forth, and most in different time zones. It's really, really difficult! So expectations of more frequent updates are probably futile, unfortunately. As I've said in every chapter, but nobody listens to the lowly editor. :P

 **Q:** And Tatsuki is using her own version of Shunko? Hopefully Yoruichi takes her on as a more personal student (Soifon 2.0).

 **Space:** It works on a similar sort of energy-using principle, yeah, though it's currently pretty unrefined.

 **Ace** : If you look at the training with Yoruichi closely, Yoruichi actually took note of this. It's not Shunko, but, as Space said, it's similar. That said, Tatsuki's power can do things that can't be done with Shunko as well.

 **Flash:** I love when fans try and use logic to explain things that the writers were just like, "That'd be cool, let's have that in there!". Like, why do the Zanpakutos work at all? Because Kubo wanted magic swords.

 **Q:** What's the "divergence" again? And where does Tatsuki's Fullbring stem from?

 **Space:** It's a rewrite, not an AU with a specific divergence. And Tatsuki's power isn't a Fullbring :D (Right guys? Or did I miss something?)

 **Ace** : Not quite Fullbring. It's entirely possible for a human to gain powers without being a Quincy or Fullbringer, like how Orihime has powers herself without being exposed to Hollow Reiatsu as a fetus. Tatsuki's similar in that way. It's just her spiritual power, not much more to it than that.

 **Flash:** I highly, highly doubt we're ever going to touch much on Fullbring, since it's just...utter incomprehensible mess. So Tatsuki's power is definitely not Fullbring. Think of it more as her ability is to cloak herself in her Spirtual Pressure.

 **Lucif:** There isn't really a divergence as the story is essentially a rewrite rather than being a ripple-effect type of tale. And I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I don't think we have any plans on including Fullbring in this story due to the fact that it is complete and utter shit.

 **Above Q continued:** And if she's getting one, I'd still be wrong in assuming that others (Don Kanonji, Keigo, Kon etc.) will be getting, right? Not necessarily Fullbrings, or even powers, but, I dunno, moments, I guess? And was that shady man Kisuke? And is he evil now? And why did the Menos Grande fight change? C'mon, that combo was awesome! And I still don't get the stuff with Soul Society... Um... Pretty sure I'm only rambling by this point, so... What's wrong with the later Arcs?!

 **Space:** Uh...most likely not, but I'm not ruling anything out 100%, we haven't planned out every single thing that happens, even if the plot is basically planned entirely. Kisuke's motivations are...wait and see! :3 The Menos Grande fight changed to begin the character arcs we're planning. What Soul Society stuff don't you get? And there is a whole lot wrong with later arcs, mainly a lot of asspulls, Ichigo's character devolving and becoming progressively less interesting and more inexplicably OP, old (cool) characters getting shafted every time Kubo gets bored and invents some new ones...yeah.

 **Ace** : The combo was awesome indeed… and it did next to nothing, coming entirely down to Ichigo. That's something that we were trying to highlight. And my issues with future arcs is the stuff Space mentioned, in addition to the new characters getting less and less interesting by my view and the plot just… feeling stale really. I honestly consider a lot of Bleach's filler as more interesting than canon by this point, which is not entirely an insult because I really loved the Bount arc and thought that Muramasa/Zanpakuto Rebellion had some really cool ideas in it.

 **Flash:** Yeah, I actually watched that episode several times, and I'm almost 99% sure that the "combo" you're referring to never happened. Like, they prepared to do it, then backed out from doing it at the last minute. In our version of the scene, Uryu suggests it, but Ichigo just goes ahead and does what he ended up doing in canon anyways. All we basically changed was the goofy sword tying thing.

 **Lucif:** The pains of being the last to write his review responses: Everything has been said already.

 **Q:** Fuck you guys. Keigo is awesome. As is Ganju. In contrast to Kamina. OH YEAH INTERNET, I JUST SAID THAT! WHATCHYOU GONNA DO, HUH?! IN FACT, ALL IF GURREN LAGANN SUCK ITSELF!

 **Space:**...I think Flash might have something to say in response to this.

 **Ace** : I believe you meant "ALL _OF_ GURREN LAGANN SUCKS ITSELF!" Grammar is important!

 **Flash:** I guess everyone can have their own opinions. Just know yours is 100% wrong.

 **Lucif:** Keigo… awesome… Ganju…. Also awesome? Does. Not. Compute. (Also, the fact that you can even bear to type Ganju's name, let alone think he's awesome, makes me wonder how humanity has survived this long.)

 **Bonus: The Process**

 _(out-of-context planning quotes)_

Space: "OKAY PREMISE CHANGED IT'S A HANATARO STORY NOW"

* * *

Space: "But yeah, feel free and I shall follow along and be an annoying nitpicker-er, editor."

Ace: "Is there a difference?"

Space: "One is more honest."

* * *

Space: "Fleshy Crunch" sounds like a demon's breakfast cereal.

Ace: "Ulquiorra's favorite brand as a child.


	6. Chapter 6: Hornet's Nest

**Chapter 6: Hornet's Nest**

 _Last Time on Eclipse!_

 _Our gang of heroes entered into the Soul Society, only to be faced by the gatekeeper, Jidanbo! Despite his immense physical might, he was no match for Chad, who easily dispatched of him. After his defeat, Jidanbo agreed to open the gate, allowing the rescue team entry into the Seireitei. But as soon as the gate was open, Jidanbo was killed by a lethal blow from Gin, one of the Captains of the Gotei 13. Just as it looked as if Ichigo and company were going to be shishkebabed, they were saved from the mysterious Captain's skewer by none other than Yoruichi!_

* * *

" _Yoruichi?_ " Uryu burst out. "That's—"

Between that word and the rest of his sentence, his methodical brain listed out several facts for him:

 _-The cat is no longer there, and its former location is the centrepoint for the smoke_

 _-She told us that the cat wasn't her 'true form'_

 _-This woman's eyes are decidedly feline_

"—quite plausible actually," he finished, his voice trailing off.

Her eyes practically sparkled as she stared the Captain down; blood ran down her hand from where she'd grabbed the sword, but she didn't seem to mind.

"Ah...first time in this body for a century...I'm feeling a bit stiff. Care to help me warm up, Captain Ichimaru?"

Gin's expression didn't flicker; after a silent moment, he twitched-the pair of them vanished, moving far faster than any of the others could follow, reappearing facing away from each other with a swirl of wind.

Gin raised his now-empty hand, chuckling. "You call _that_ stiff?"

Yoruichi twirled the now-retracted sword she'd stolen as they passed around her fingers, sighing.

"If I was a bit faster I could've taken one of your eyes, too. Assuming you ever open them."

She turned back towards her younger companions.

"Go. We've drawn enough attention—reinforcements will be on their way already. Get as far as you can, and lay low if it's too much for you. I'll meet up with you later."

"Where you headed, hmm?" Gin asked, leaning towards them. "Are you after what I think you're after?"

"You be quiet," she snapped.

"What about you?" Ichigo asked, hesitating to go. "If all those Shinigami get here and you're still-"

"I'll be fine!" she insisted. "Do you know why I'm called Flash Master Yoruichi?"

"I can hazard a guess," Uryu muttered, still averting his eyes from her.

She rolled her eyes. "No, you...look, it's the...the Flash-Step technique...I'm the...fastest...ugh, just _go_ already!"

When they had all left her sight, Yoruichi turned back to Gin. She gritted her teeth in frustration as she noticed that the sword was back in his hands, the glow of Kido fading the only indication as to how he'd taken it back.

"You shouldn't turn your back on your opponent," he lectured, tossing the blade from one hand to the other. "A little sloppy after your retirement? My dear former Captain Two."

"Come and see." She brushed a swathe of untamed hair back from her face, eyes flashing as she stared him down.

The next moment he'd released his zanpakuto once more, lunging at her-but by the time the weapon was fully-extended, she was standing to his left, standing in the same relaxed pose.

"Still so slow," she said. "What exactly have you been doing for the past century?"

* * *

A heavy-set man, starting to bald, runs into spartan living quarters in a panic. Gasping for breath, he shouts about the ringing alarm, only to find that his superior has already left.

* * *

A notched sword, its handle wrapped with white bandages, rests against a windowsill. This blade has clearly seen countless battles and slain just as many foes. Even though it sits still, the sword hums, the light from the window flickering against the worn steel. It's restless, like an apex predator wrapped in chains, struggling to free itself.

The alarm sounds.

A psychotic grin gleams from the steel as its owner grabs the blade roughly.

* * *

Video monitors flicker, rapidly showing every nook and cranny of the Seireitei.

A pure white hand, its finger nails painted a unhealthy shade of purple taps methodically against a cold, metal table.

* * *

Hisagi briskly walks down a wooden corridor. His face is grim; the ringing of the alarm can be heard faintly outside the barren walls that surround him.

Reaching a door, he doesn't hesitate to throw it open.

"Captain."

Tosen sits in meditation in front of a beautiful, marble fountain, fashioned in the form of the blind Lady Justice.

Despite his usual brusqueness, Hisagi knows the value of these moments of introspection to his Captain. "I'm sorry to intrude, but—"

"You would not be here if it was not important," Tosen replies calmly, rising from his reverie.

He begins to walk slowly alongside his Lieutenant while listening to the report.

He moves quite a bit faster once he's heard it.

* * *

"This way!" Ichigo shouted over the sound of the ringing gong.

The rest of the Karakura Gang sprinted along behind him. They were enclosed into a narrow road, blocked in by monotone, grey walls. They just stretched out as far as he could see, forming a never ending maze.

In fact, it was so similar that none of them even realized that they were coming up on a dead end. They slid to a stop, bewildered. In this unfamiliar territory, none of them had a clue what their next course of action should be.

Ichigo stepped forward, placing himself in the center of the crossroads.

"Left or right? Quick, everyone just blurt out whichever pops in your mind first."

"Right!" Tatsuki exclaimed.

The first thing that popped into Orihime's mind was pancakes, but she knew better than to yell that randomly by now, so she kept quiet.

Chad began to move right; Ichigo nodded, satisfied by the group's quick decision. However, Uryu put his arm in front of the giant, blocking his path.

"This is foolish, Kurosaki."

Ichigo frowned.

"You want to go left?"

Uryu shook his head, dead serious.

"No, I fear remaining a single group will endanger the mission."

"Huh?"

"We're hardly going to take the entirety of Soul Society head-on," he explained. "Our best chance is to slip past them. If we split up, it'll be much harder for them to catch us all."

"If we're split up, it'll be _easier_ to be captured," Ichigo argued. "The saying is strength in numbers! I thought you were a reader, Ishida."

"That is the saying, yes. There are six of us. And several hundred of them, at minimum." Uryu tapped his head. "Who has the strength in numbers here?"

Ichigo was at a loss, but wasn't ready to give up yet.

"What if one of us gets into trouble? How are we supposed to keep each other safe if we're scattered throughout this damn maze? I know you guys went through all that training, but only me and Ishida have really been in a serious fight before. What if- Urk!"

"Ex _cuse_ me?" Tatsuki wrapped an arm around his neck, growling into his ear, equally amused and frustrated by him. "I gotta remind you of that mass Hollow attack one more time? Or you forget we were all there when Rukia got taken?"

"That's not the same!" Ichigo argued from within her headlock. "It's just—"

Orihime pried them apart, smiling at the two of them. "Okay, okay, you're both very cool…"

Ichigo looked to Chad, hoping for a voice of reason. He only received a determined stare. Sighing, he slumped his shoulders, conceding defeat.

"Alright, alright. So IF we split up, how are we going to know where to meet up? Rukia could be anywhere! How will we know where to find each other?"

The group was stumped by Ichigo's question. He smiled a little, almost unconsciously.

Until Chad raised his arm, pointing up into the sky. In the direction he pointed, at the very centre of the Soul Society, lay an enormous white tower; with the light gleaming off its distant surface, it was almost hard to look at.

"Excellent thought!" Uryu said upon seeing the gesture. "Out of all the buildings we can see, that one has the highest likelihood of being Rukia's prison. Failing that, it's a significant landmark so even if we're wrong, it will suffice as a reference point from anywhere in Seireitei. We'll all make our separate ways there and regroup. By that time, I'm sure Yo— _Miss_ Yoruichi will be able to track us down."

Ichigo was silent for awhile, his face cast in shadows. With a sigh, he looked up, his eyes full of determination.

"Alright, let's do it. I better see all of you there!"

The group nods, all fiercely devoted to the task at hand. Coolly adjusting his glasses, Uryu leaps to the top of the wall behind them.

"I'll loop around and distract some of the guards. That should give you all a better chance."

Ichigo smirked.

"Always the hero, huh, Ishida."

Uryu rolled his eyes, but couldn't help returning the grin.

"You're a fine one to talk, Kurosaki. See you at the tower."

With a billow of his cape, the glasses-sporting crusader vanished.

Ichigo turned to Chad. The two didn't say a word, simply grasping onto each other's arms firmly. Locking eyes, they made a silent vow, then with a nod, Chad took off running down the right passageway.

Only Orihime and Tatsuki remained, and Ichigo's taunt face loosened a bit as he looks at the pair.

"Orihime, stick with Tatsuki, she'll keep you safe."

"You know it," said Tatsuki.

"If you guys ever need help, just call, and I'll be there."

Orihime giggled. Instinctively she began to reach out for a hug, but pulled away, remembering who she was dealing with. Unsure of how to react, Ichigo looked to Tatsuki, pleading for help. The martial artist just gave him a playful shrug.

Hesitantly, Ichigo opened his arms and braced himself, catching the now flying Orihime. He stiffened as her arms wrapped around him and her head buried itself into his chest. Awkwardly, he gave her a timid, reassuring pat on the back.

Releasing him, Orihime blushed as she backed away, hiding behind Tatsuki. Ichigo rubbed the back of his head, a little embarrassed as the two girls began to head down the left path. Turning around, Tatsuki gave him a quizzical look.

"If we're going this way, and you're not with Chad, where are you going?"

Grinning, Ichigo pointed straight towards the tower.

"That's where we're heading right? I don't see any reason to not just go straight for it."

"There's a wall…"

"You're sweating the small stuff. Now get going, or people will start to think we like each other."

Sticking her tongue out, Tatsuki turned around, smiling to herself. Orihime gave Ichigo one last wave goodbye before the pair disappeared around a corner.

SMACK SMACK.

Ichigo slapped his face repeatedly. His confident smirk transformed into a determined scowl. Looking over the wall that stood directly before him, he glared at the tower. His eyes narrowed, and as he crouched, they never left his destination.

He leapt, soaring over the wall with ease. His eyes remained on the tower, the singular goal that now drove him forward. Nothing would stop him, nothing could distract him from reaching his goal.

Ichigo prepared himself for another bound as he began to reach the end of his jump. He did not want to stop his progress towards the tower for even a second. He was so focused, in fact, that he didn't realize when his foot dug into a Soul Reaper's face.

"AAARRRGGH!"

"What the fu—"

Instead of leaping into the sky, Ichigo's balance was thrown off, causing him to topple on top of the Soul Reaper and his companions. Tangled in a mass of flailing limbs, Ichigo pushed his way out of the mess. When he finally got to his feet, he dusted off his robe before looking up to see…

An entire platoon of Soul Reapers staring slack-jawed at him. For a few seconds, the Shinigami and Ichigo just eyed each other. Finally, it registered with them that the strange boy who had stumbled upon them was one of the intruders, and the Soul Reapers started reaching for their weapons.

With a sigh, Ichigo's hand wrapped around Zangetsu's hilt.

"Alright, Mr. Hat-and-Clogs, let's see if all that training was really worth it."

* * *

"Listen, we're taking her to the Senzaikyu, because we were ordered to. With Ryoka running around, that's protocol. There ain't no arguing it, it's just what we got to do. Why the hell are you even here?"

Squeezing the handle of his broom, Hanataro kept his eyes locked on his feet. He couldn't believe he was being questioning by a Lieutenant! Especially one as volatile as Renji Abari.

"Well, sir...I, uh, I always come here to clean the cells at this time of day."

"We're being invaded right now, Broom Boy! Did you not think that would affect the routine just a little bit? I thought you wimps in Squad 4 would at least be smart."

Hanataro whimpered, flinching as Renji brushed past him.

"Is Ru—the prisoner ready?"

A burly guardsman saluted the Lieutenant before nodding.

"Good...good," said Renji. Hanataro hesitantly gave him a glance. The usually brash, reckless man looked distracted. He had to be worried about the Ryoka.

Renji turned back to Hanataro, who quickly averted his gaze.

"If you've really got a hard-on for cleaning, you can do it after we've taken her out."

"Ye-yes, sir," Hanataro stammered. He meekly moved to a corner, as the vanguard of the Senzaikyu exited the cell.

His heart jumped into his throat. Chains seemed to cover Rukia's entire body. Her arms, feet, even her neck were all wrapped in cruel iron. She ambled out of the room, stiff from her bounds and from weeks of confinement. Hanataro stole a quick look at her face. The fallen noble's eyes were locked to the floor, full of sorrow.

The lowly janitor couldn't stand the sight of it.

The head of the vanguard stepped towards Renji, addressing him.

"That's all we need, Lieutenant Abarai. We'll escort the prisoner to the Senzaikyu now."

Renji nodded.

"Right. I'll tag along."

The red-clad Shinigami paused.

"There's no need for that, sir. We can handle it."

Scowling, Renji took a step closer to the man.

"I know you 'guards' are a little out of the loop since you just sit in one spot all day. So I'll let you in on it. We are currently under attack. All the proper...protocols and whatever have to be taken. I'm going."

The guard stepped back, bowing to Renji's wishes. The Lieutenant nodded, satisfied. "Let's get this over with."

The escort could only take two steps before a hoarse voice spoke.

"Wait."

Hanataro looked up, surprised to hear Rukia speak. Everyone else in the room too was staring at her. One of the guards behind her finally managed to regain his composure enough to speak.

"You've lost the chance to beg, traitor. Now move it," he said, prodding her with his polearm.

In a flash, the guard had been thrown against the wall, Renji's blade glittering with ill-intent against the man's throat. The vanguard all drew their own weapons but held them gingerly, unsure of what to do about their commanding officer's actions.

"DID YOU JUST ASSAULT A NOBLE!?" Renji roared.

"Why does i—aaagh!"

A trickle of blood began to stream down the man's neck.

"APOLOGIZE!"

"Okay! Damn, I'm sorry!"

"To who?"

"To yo—aah—Miss Kuchiki. I'm sorry, Miss Kuchiki!"

The man collapsed to the floor the moment Zabimaru was removed from his neck. Two of his comrades rushed to his side, helping him to his feet. Hanataro could only watch in stunned silence as the Senzaikyu guards all eyed Renji warily, weapons down, but still at the ready.

Ignoring them, Renji simply gave his old friend a slight nod, before turning away.

"You have thirty seconds."

The Lieutenant disappeared up the stairs, the glaring eyes of the guards following him.

Hanataro watched too, until he felt a soft, warm touch gently grasp his hand. Looking up in total disbelief, he was met by Rukia's sad, yet beautiful, smile.

"Thank you, Hanataro. For being kind to me."

Up the stairs, Renji's nails dug into the wood of the railing.

"Of course...of course, Miss Kuchiki. It was my pleasure, no, honor! I'm-glad to have met you."

Rukia grasped onto his hand tighter as tears welled up in her eyes.

"I'm happy to have met you too, Hanataro. Goodbye."

And just like that, the soothing, calming touch was torn away from Hanataro. He watched, helpless and empty as Rukia was led up the stairs. One step closer to the gallows.

For awhile, he stood there, alone in the holding room. Finally, unable to think of anything else to do, he did what he always did. Follow orders. Sweep the cell.

As he swept, with only the sound of his broom's bristles scraping the stone floor to keep him company, a thought struck Hanataro. For the last few weeks, the only thing that had given him joy was his daily conversations with Rukia. Only the comforting tones of her voice had kept him afloat in his life as a fuckup. Even by Squad 4 standards he was a total disgrace. She was the only one that had believed in him, that had encouraged him. Now she was gone, and all he could do was remain there cleaning her empty cell?

Hanataro's shoulders began to shake, his vision becoming blurry. When had he started to cry? His hands turned white as they wrung his broomstick.

SNAP.

Two pieces of splintered wood clattered to the ground of the empty cell.

* * *

Dodging another sudden stab, Yoruichi placed a hand on Gin's forearm and crouched down, pulling his arm and upper body with her, flipping him fully upside-down. While he was still disoriented, her other elbow lashed out, striking his solar plexus; he bounced twice as he skidded away from her, not making a sound, ending up on his back.

After a motionless second, he sat up, rubbing at where she'd hit him. "Oww…" His protest of pain didn't seem particularly genuine.

She rose, re-folding her arms. "So, what do you think? Have I got 'sloppy'?"

"Not at all," he replied with a laugh. "My bad. I'll start fighting dirty now."

He rapidly skidded a foot along the ground in front of him, the inhuman speed and force of the simple movement throwing up a cloud of dust around him.

 _I see what you're doing._ She raised her guard, scanning the obscuring cloud for signs of movement. _If I don't know where exactly the attack's going to come from…_

There!

Shinso's blade came soaring out of the cloud, angling towards her from the left. Still in intense focus, she shifted right in an instant, the attack flashing past her head, too close for comfort. _But now I know where you are._

Then, unexpectedly, the sword fell heavily to the ground, no longer held in the air by anything.

"Did I say I was still holding it?" came Gin's voice from by her ear, before a hard blow knocked her back into the nearest house's wall. Somewhere behind her, she heard the foundations crack.

"Rgh…" She shook her head, trying to clear the daze, but he was already pressing his advantage; Shinso was back in his hands, coming down with an overhead swing. Her own hands shot up, clapping around the blade, holding it back inches from splitting her skull. _Have to get out of this corner_ — _!_

She hauled his sword off to the side, letting it go on to dig into the building by her shoulder, freeing up her hands. One quickly locked his sword-arm while the other smacked a palm into his chin, his head rocking back. With him dazed, she spun them both around, dumping him on the floor and tightening the lock until it was just on the verge of breaking his arm.

"Submit," she commanded.

"Look again," he giggled. He'd twisted his hand around until Shinso, back to its shortest length, was aimed directly up at her heart.

"Hey, you're pretty fast. If you break my arm I can't release it. But I can do that pretty damn quick, and then you're pretty damn dead. Wanna bet on it?"

She stared down into his lifeless eyes for almost a full awful minute, trying to work out if she could do it.

He twitched.

They both vanished, reappearing a few yards apart after their simultaneous Flash-Steps.

"I thought you were the best at those," he taunted. "Mine didn't take any longer than yours."

"Not quite," she said with a smug expression, one of her folded arms waving two fingers. "You did one. I did two."

She took a step forwards as his smile froze.

"What did I do on my pitstop, you're wondering? Not much. Just planted a little kido."

She snapped her fingers, and tendrils of hard-light energy burst out of the ground around him, making for him and aiming to hold him in place. He slashed the nearest few in two, dissipating them, leaping up out of reach of the rest.

He had, however, quite literally failed to look before he leapt, and she was waiting up in the air for him, her foot crunching against his side, pinballing him back to earth as she landed gracefully in the exact spot she'd jumped from.

"Haa...haa...hah…" He crawled back a few steps, using an abandoned cart to pull himself halfway off the ground. "Guess you're too much woman for me to handle."

He raised his head, speaking slightly louder.

"Care to tag in?"

"Who—" was as far as Yoruichi got, before hissing as a sharp, stinging pain blossomed in the centre of her lower back. Soon after, a butterfly-shaped mark sprung up around the injured point, an instant four-petalled tattoo.

That was the last Gin saw of her before the area was filled with rapid movement. If not for all of his training with his Bankai, Gin would have been able to see their movements as blurs at best. As it was, the Captain could barely keep track of their fight

The high-speed combatants soon streaked off over the rooftops. He picked himself up, dusting off his robes.

"Well now. What fun today is shaping up to be."

* * *

"Wow, this place is straight out of an Edo period movie!" Orihime cooed, pointing excitedly at the rows upon rows of old-fashioned buildings they ran past.

"Yeah, yeah, fascinating, keep it down please," Tatsuki grumbled. "The less we gotta fight, the more often I can go all-out."

"Aw, don't be mad," Orihime mumbled. "I don't get to go to cool places like this often…"

Tatsuki laughed in spite of herself, rubbing her head. "I can't stay mad at you…"

Movement from their left snapped her back to attention. From a side-alley, a pair of junior Shinigami emerged, bearing down on them with swords drawn. Orihime hadn't even noticed yet, so Tatsuki dragged her back out of the way by the shoulders, throwing up her forearm to block both descending blades.

The twin katana made a jarring impact against the Reiatsu crackling over her skin—more jarring for them than her. Before their attackers could get over their shock, she punched straight down into the ground between them, the shockwave throwing them both back down the alleyway.

Orihime finally noticed what was going on. "Oh! You saved me," she said, embarrassed.

"Yeah, I do that. C'mon." She took off, pulling Orihime behind her, unable to go at full speed because of it.

They were about to turn the next corner when a whole troop of Soul Reapers came scrambling past, heading for where they'd initially entered the citadel. The two girls flattened themselves against the wall to stay out of sight. _I could take this lot,_ Tatsuki decided, _but we aren't big on time to spare, and somebody who's an actual big deal could notice and get involved._ Most average Soul Reapers, it seemed, weren't very threatening, but the higher-ranked ones—like the pair that they'd fought back on Earth—were a different story altogether. And there were plenty of those around, judging by the enormous spikes of spiritual power she could feel dotting Soul Society.

"Um…" Orihime got that embarrassed look again, wringing her hands.

"What?" Tatsuki hissed. "Whatever it is, say it."

"Am I in your way?"

Tatsuki blinked. "Huh?"

"Those people back there, they were pretty weak, right?" Orihime sighed. "But I didn't even notice them. You had to rescue me like always. And I know you could go faster without me. Aren't I just a nuisance?"

"What? Don't be stupid."

The coast seemed clear, so Tatsuki lead the way across the square and onto the next street.

"Physical stuff's just my specialty. Your powers are awesome, okay? We'll need 'em. 'Sides, it's hard to ever feel down with you around. Worth having you just for that—"

She came to an abrupt halt, sticking her arm out in front of Orihime to stop her.

"What is it…?" Orihime followed her line of vision, finding what her stare was fixed on—a gangly, bald Soul Reaper swaggering towards them. "Powerful?"

Tatsuki nodded, taking a step forwards. "Pretty damn. This might actually take a while. Get behind me, but get ready to back me up. Specially if his buddies arrive."

The man raised his still-sheathed sword in salute. "Yo! I—"

Tatsuki had crossed the distance between them in a blink, swinging a fist into his face. His body shook once, but he didn't move from where he was standing. He frowned as a trickle of blood made its way down his chin, slowly rotating his head back to where it had been before her attack.

"Now that's just rude," he said. "I was tryin'a start our fight off proper!"

"Yeah, well, we're in a bit of a hurry, pal." She stepped back, suddenly wary. _It's not that it didn't hurt him...he just had no interest in dodging it._

 _That...might be scarier._

"Wow, scary face you got there," he laughed. "You must be the tough one."

He swung his sword up to rest it on his shoulder, dramatically indicating himself with his off-hand. The main achievement of this was that they finally noticed the bold swoops of eyeliner he was sporting.

"Name's Ikkaku Madarame, 3rd Seat, Squad 11!" His mouth jerked upwards into a crazed half-smile. "Survive a few rounds and I might care enough to ask yours."

"Last more'n a couple hits and I might be bothered to give it," Tatsuki replied, mirroring his expression.

* * *

Ichigo darted around yet another corner. He was sticking to the ground for now; everytime he tried going over walls, he seemed to run into patrols. Sick and tired of mowing through mooks, Ichigo was hoping that by running he'd be a little less conspicuous. He didn't mind the fights, just the fact that they were a waste of time. He had more important matters to attend to.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glint of red.

He turned his head, before coming to a complete stop as he sees a passing glance of Rukia.

She was surrounded by six men dressed in red Shinigami robes and helmets. Her hands were pinned against her back by cold steel and she and she was led along by chains. Her face was hidden by her black hair, looking down at the ground. Already defeated, accepting her impending doom.

Then, just as quickly as he had spotted her, she was gone, whisked behind another gray wall.

A pit of fury began to boil inside of Ichigo until he was unable to contain it anymore. In an instant, Zangetsu was in his hand and he was racing forward. His heart pounded as he leapt into the air, easily hurdling the wall that stood between him and what he came for.

"RUKIA!" he roared, sailing down towards the vanguard.

Raising her head, Rukia's sorrowful eyes widened in shock as Ichigo descended. A glimmer of both hope and worry dashed across her face as she whispered.

"Ichigo?"

Her escort looked up, completely stunned by the sudden ambush. Ichigo was much too fast for them, especially with his adrenaline and anger pushing his body into overdrive. Focusing his sight on the guard directly behind Rukia, Ichigo whipped his sword back for a devastating blow.

He was going to demolish these bastards before they could even think of putting up a fight. It didn't matter to him what sort of shape they were in either. Whichever would lead to him getting Rukia back quickest would do.

Zangetsu was a mere blur as he unleashed his attack. The guard was completely defenseless, unable to raise his weapon in time to block the blade aimed for his chest. The man gulped, a painful task thanks to the cut on his throat. Closing his eyes, he accepted his imminent death.

A loud clang rang out and the guard opened his eyes, surprised that he even had the chance. He couldn't help but let his jaw drop when he discovered Renji Abarai standing in front of him, hand on the back of his sword as he fended off Ichigo's attack.

"Not on my watch, you Ryoka bastard," the Lieutenant growled, as the two stood, swords locked together, with matching scowls.

* * *

 **Flash:** _Well hey there everyone! Been a little while...again. Sorry about that, I know you guys don't believe us, but I promise that with all of us having nice, concrete schedules now, we're working out a system where we can have more regular updates. We're all really excited to be writing this story and now we're getting to the good parts, I don't think you could force us to stop writing it! Thanks to everyone who reviewed, favorited, or followed the story since last update! We appreciate ya!_

 **Space:** _He lies. There's never been a schedule. None of us know what we're doing. The universe is aimless and chaotic. The next update will be when it is written. Ask no further questions of the Mighty Zuul._

 **Ace:** _Who is Zuul exactly?_

 **Space:** _FIND OUT NEXT TIME, ON DRAGON BALL Z!_

 **Ace:** _Wrong show._

 **Space:** _Then I guess you'll never find out._

 **Lucif:** _And I did stuff this chapter! You know, changing some punctuation and fixing some sentences and… hey, I do stuff too, okay? I promise!_

 **Q:** And no Japanese for Shi/Bankai? I think that's a real shame…

 **Space:** Well, it's just...ordinary words they're saying. Like, it's not some magical mystical untranslatable moonrune, it's just the word for "howl" or whatever. So to give you the same experience as the Japanese audience who can understand that language fine, we translate the activation phrase.

 **Flash:** Yeah, we don't need to be even more Weeaboo than we already are.

 **Ace:** That said, we shall weeb where it's necessary. There will be weeabooing. THIS I CAN PROMISE YOU. MAYBE.

 **Q:** Oh, and it's not completely necessary, but I think a "Previously on Eclipse..." Would be quite useful.

 **Space:** Tadaaaah

 **Flash:** A lot of people asked for this, and since when I started writing this chapter, I had to remind myself what had happened in the last chapter, so we figured it was a pretty reasonable request.

 **Q** : got Few idea's for Hoco Mendo land scape,other Ghost types ,Planer beings ,Future villains ,Lot of Oc's and Some Idea's For Hell that you might like .

 **Ace:** Oi, oi, wait a minute. We're slow enough with our own ideas, any more and nothing would get done.

 **Lucif:** One of the benefits of FFN is that you are free to write your own ideas in a story. Who needs us to do that?

* * *

 **The Process:**

Space: "Was it your intention to Ship Tease Ichigo with the entire Karakura Gang in that scene"

* * *

Flash (Writing): An entire platoon of Soul Reapers staring slack-jawed at him. For a few seconds, the Shinigami and Ichigo just kind of eye each other. Finally, it registers with them that the intruder has stumbled upon them and the Soul Reapers start reaching for their weapons.

 _Alright, time for class! See you in an hour or so!_

Ace: —Ichigo stuttered out. "Yeah, I'm just, uh… a student. Took a wrong turn, you see. So, if you don't mind, I'll just be on my way. Wouldn't wanna be late!"

* * *

Ace: *Darth Hanataro intensifies*

Space: Remember one of the earlier Process segments was like, "Okay fine it's a Hanataro story now!" FORESHADOWING

Ace: And now we know why it's a Hanataro story. This entire plot was but his Start of Darkness.

Space: "When did you come under the illusion, exactly...that _Aizen_ was the one controlling this Zanpakuto?"


End file.
